Trouble Seeker
by Retorica
Summary: Trouble seeking is a part of Kagamine Rin's life. She seeks and fails more than once, but she won't give up or stop doing that... Or will she? Maybe meeting a certain someone will stop her from doing that... [ RinxLen – Twincest – Character Death ]
1. Chapter 1: Seeking

~~My first fic that was written full-hearted-ly ^^ before this… Erm. No more words.

* * *

The once empty, no-voice-at-all corridor suddenly filled with a quick and loud foot-step sound that echoed throughout the place.

A girl with a long-yellow colored hair that was tied to a side ponytail walked loudly and impatiently to the door at the end of the corridor, silently muttered some curses under her breath.

"Shit, could they ask someone else to do this? I'm freaking busy." She said to herself, still stomping her foot to the well-polished marble floor.

Soon, her fast-paced walk turned to a running pace because of her impatient self.

"They have to at least give me some extra money or something like that for asking me to walk to the oh-so-far-away room in this overly huge building… Or mansion, or even palace, whatever…" She said to herself between huffs, then continued the rant, "Could they just… Do… Or make something to call _without_ using **living things**? This is freaking useless!"

Seeing the door was still far away, she sighed, "Yeah, they will say that 'It's impolite!' or something like that… Like I care!" She changed the way of talking on the quote.

As the door became closer, she reached her hand to the round-shaped knob, still muttering things to herself, "God! This is that teal-haired freak's job! Why I should go when she's not there—AAAARGH!"

She turned the knob fast and swung the door open, "Kagamine-sa—"

Only to know that the room was completely empty.

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

"Bah! They're tricking me for sure!" Now she stomped louder and faster than before because of her turned-worse mood that called anger. "Walking this far and found no one in the room? They going to die soon… Maybe some minutes after this…" She said with a very-little smirk that quickly vanished from her face. "I'd rather do something more useful than calling a freak 'high _person_' or whatever they call him who doesn't even at the place!"

Arriving at her destination, she kicked the door open, for this one, no need to use formality—that she hardly even use.

"All of you are sooooo dead! There's no one in the room, you freaks!" She yelled so loudly so then everyone in the room can hear her more than necessary.

No one giggling, laughing, or make some dumb face as she expected, but they just calmly asked her, "…He's not there?"

She tilted her head, "Does he supposed to be…?"

No one gave her any answers after that, her anger was also turned into something more sensitive than that, between worry, panic, and confused.

"God, this becomes a real trouble…"

* * *

School life for the 15-years old Kagamine Rin just went smoothly, a way too smooth for her sense. Trouble hardly come after her, even though maybe there are some trouble, it's just between left her supposed to be brought thing at her house, forget to bring or do her homework, or fall asleep in the class that has some killer teacher who could _kick_ her off the class (but lucky enough, not from the school) anytime they want.

Life at her house is the same, the time she lost her precious thing, she just found it on the bed, covered with the messy blanket that spread untidily over her bed.

Her neighborhood? Don't ask. She often _seek for trouble_ to her neighbor, like, throwing things to their roof. But strangely enough, they always think that she was just joking around. No one mad at her. Even the dogs, she throws rocks at it, but they never chase her. She always wanted to be chased by dogs. She thought that it should be fun.

But then, she always got lucky. She doesn't know this is her luck or what, it just went _smooth_ like that.

She didn't realized that her mind went over somewhere far away from the things that explained by the teacher. She just _woke_up from her daydream when the teacher called, "Kagamine-san, I see that you're not paying any attention to my class."

She cringed falsely, actually she wanted to smile widely, hoping for some detention. 'Please detention, detention, detention, detention!' She chanted that words in her mind, hoping that spell-sounded-thing would work for real.

"Pay attention for next time, I'll dismissed the class for now." The teacher said and left the classroom.

And of course, also left Rin whose mouth was opened wide, if it even possible, call it agape.

She slammed her head to her desk, not hard, though. "Ugh, just a little bit…" But after that, she smirked, 'The teacher said, 'For next time', maybe if I 'daydreaming' again next time, she'll give me some detention!' She thought happily and evilly.

"Yo, Rin!" Someone hit her head with books, Rin looked up to the person. Rin just couldn't help but smiled. Soon, her smile turned to some kind of the opposite.

"Aaaa~ Teto-chaaaan~ Hello~" Rin said strangely.

"…Hello to you as well? Okay, let's go out." Teto replied, a bit confused with her friend's strange attitude.

* * *

Rin slammed her box of orange juice to the plastic table, "Almost." She said.

"Almost what? Almost got detention?" Teto asked back with a slight of giggle, showing that she was only joking.

"Yeah!" Now Rin slammed her fist to the table, causing the foods and drinks clatter a bit. And Teto, taken back from this, completely didn't expect her joking words to be true.

"So then, let me guess… Or state that you're still searching some… detentions?" Teto asked.

"Yeah." Rin said as she slumped (or slide) herself to the table.

Teto, even though still didn't understand her friend's _goal_, giving some advice, "Have you try to… Spill drink over the teacher's clothes, or… Color the wall bright yellow, or… Yeah, breaking class's window?"

"I've tried them all." Rin said truthfully. Teto chocked at her bread that she's been eating from the beginning of the talk. "At the end, no teacher, nor students managed to get the _culprit_, so then, I came to the office and said the truth, that I'm the one who did all of them, but then…"

Teto just keep eating her bread (after recovering from the choke), waiting her friend's story to come to the end. Then Rin suddenly exploded, "They don't believe at me! They said that 'What a good kid you are, Rin… Saying things like that so none of your classmates or the whole students got the detention', and… They didn't do anything to me—huwaaaaa~!"

Teto tried to stay calm, "You use the wrong word, Rin… That last sentence sounds… Wrong." However, her useless statement really didn't do anything.

"Yah, whatever you said! Actually you listen to my story or searching for wrong grammar or even vocabulary?" Rin said between her long-last pouting-alike.

"Erm, both." Teto said the truth easily. "Then, let's go back to the class, faster we come back, faster we study, faster we go home, faster you… Do something in your neighborhood…" Teto trailed.

"That will just… No, I mean, won't do anything!" Rin cried.

"Aw, come on, you have to try…" Teto patted Rin's head.

"O… okay, I think." Rin finally gave up on her friend, but that one thing still left on her mind.

She won't give up on getting scold, detention, or anything bad.

* * *

~~Short. It's short. Sorry it's short.

This was written like… Half a year ago… Then abandoned for some months, then I decided to put it here…

About review…

Oh, and my English isn't that good so…

*hit*


	2. Chapter 2: Trouble

~~Today's Valentine... Like I care...

I can't update everyday because... I'm not allowed to, so~ Well... This is the next chapter...?

* * *

"So, he's missing for real?" A girl with teal twin-tails asked a way too casually.

"You shouldn't say something like that. You just don't know how amused was I when I found no one and yeah, you know what I mean…" Another girl, happened to be that yellow-headed person said.

"Ehehe, sorry… I really don't… Hehe…" She laughs.

"Do… don't laugh!" The other girl protested.

"But then, this is… Serious, right?" Her previous bright face turned to a dark one.

"You know that, why you're laughing?"

She smiled darkly, "You know… If something like this really happens, 95% chance that we're the one who supposed to search for him, you know…"

"You got to be kidding! I won't do it forever!"

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

Rin walked silently to her house, which separated far away from Teto's. Keep sighing along the way, one sigh per four steps. She mentally slapped herself, for thinking of something completely useless. 'I better think about another trick to… Argh!' She abruptly cut her own mind, realizing that nothing will go wrong this time.

Upon arriving at her house, she sighed for the uncountable time. Thinking of some fire in her house, or a sudden earthquake, or her house broke suddenly, or anything bad, running in her mind, hoping something like that will happen for real.

She opened the door slowly, looking for some chained-reaction when she push the door in. "I'm… Home." Rin said while closed back her house door. Nothing happened, no one replied just like usual.

Her parents has left her a long time ago (and that called passed away) in some kind of crash or something like that, she didn't really remember about that, that was when she was just 3 years old, how did she supposed to remember? But then, because of that, she got used with living alone with no one rule except herself. Sometimes, she dragged Teto or Gumi—her other friend along to have a sleepover at her house, or she will sleep at her friends' house. Something like that.

So then, greeted by silence as usual, she walked to the living room, looking at its surrounding. TV, couch, a picture framed beautifully, indoor plant, carpet, oranges (which always out at about 6 pm (eaten by her), so she always go out to buy some more), and many things that she didn't know the name of it. She didn't really care about things that much, after all.

Somehow she wanted her TV to be vanished, stolen by some thieves, or her house even suddenly empty, and she tells it to the police and the police search for the thief, she thinks that it should be fun. But at that time, as usual, nothing happened. And little of her wants something new that suddenly appeared in her house, like, a pack, or something fun…

Though something like that never happened at all and she knew that it wouldn't happen forever, but she still can hope, right?

Just right before she sat on the couch to have some oranges, she noticed something that wasn't supposed to be there. Something yellow, white and skin colored, yet she didn't know what is _it_. That thing was sitting upright, shifted sometimes, and…

It hit her, it's a _person_, not a thing.

Rin didn't know how to react, or even how to feel. Should she feel happy, sad, scared, panicked, surprised, startled, or cautious?

Sooner, that person's eyes locked to her ones, noticing each other.

Rin was kind of surprised (she finally admitted that) looking at a person who looked 90% like her. It's just, that person wear all-white clothes, hair tied into a small ponytail and…

Looked clueless.

"E… erm." Rin chose to start the conversation, "C… can you… tell me how the hell you got here? B… breaking the window, unlock the door with somekind of tricks or… what?" She asked. It really made her confused. She always bring her house key everywhere she went (including when she gets out to a place that just a meter away from her house, called her own little garden), and how did this person come in?

That person just shook his/her (she thought this person could be both, neither girl or boy, but no hermaphrodite…) head slowly.

"I know that you know, and you're supposed to know, how the hell you got here?" Rin demanded again, her fear drowned suddenly.

That person looked away to the window, to the sky, "I don't know."

His/her voice sounded just like a whisper, so Rin just still couldn't manage to get this person's gender.

Rin hit her head, "Aw, come on, you know it! Okay, from the window, the door or even the _roof_?"

"…What is that things?" That person asked, and now she could tell that it was a he.

A _he_? A boy in her house? God, she just became more cautious of this person (already known as _him_). But then… he…

"Don't joke around with me, all the people know what a _door_ and _window_is, come on!" Rin's voice became darker.

That person just didn't say anything after that. Then, he shook his head slowly—again. "Sorry, but I really do not have any idea of how I ended up here."

Rin cringed (for real) hearing his all-polite-language. "Okay, one clue, this is Earth." She joked in still a dark tone.

And again, he asked, "Earth?"

Rin could throw this person out from her window if she wanted, but something like this happens rarely (honestly, this just happened once, this time, and she enjoyed this from her heart) so she just gave him more chance to… Erm, live. "If you're a human, you know what is an _Earth_." She thought for moment, 'Of course he's a human! Unless if aliens do really exist… Useless, Kagamine Rin…'

She had enough of his unknowing for things, but she really didn't expect his answer to her last statement, and now, he titled his head to a side and asked, "Human?"

"OH MY GOOOOOD!" Rin exploded (for the blah-th time in that day), "Don't tell me that I'm stuck with a person who got amnesia—!" Then she clutched her head in stress and suddenly pointed at him, "Don't ask 'What is amnesia'! I had enough!"

* * *

Rin peeled an orange and sat on the carpet, relaxing herself with some heavenly-delicious-oranges. She popped a slice of it to her mouth and chewed it excitedly. "I wonder why oranges are sooooo delicious~".

"Maybe they were made for that 'delicious purpose', Orange-san." He (that person) commented her statement. Of course, his ghostly-enough voice could make Rin jump if she wasn't with her precious orange.

"I really appreciate your words, but it will be better if you don't say anything since you have a really limited-vocabulary. And my name is not 'Orange', it's Rin, Kagamine Rin." Rin said while popped another slice of orange into her mouth.

"Sorry." He said. Rin looked up to him and caught his expression. A guilty expression that's… Cute. Rin prevented herself for glomping him or do anything that will (of course, you know the violent Rin.) threaten his life. So she just chose to talk to him ('At least talking is better than glomping.' Although Rin thought like that, we know that it means like this: 'At least talking to him is better than killing him').

"A… and, what's yours?" Rin asked, avoiding her _glomping_ (once again, _killing_.) attempt.

"What is mine?" He asked back. Rin sighed again for his a-way-too-much clueless.

"Name, duh." Rin rolled her eyes.

"…" At first he didn't say anything, but after (maybe) thinking, he replied, "You know that I… Kind of… Don't remember anything."

"…" Rin didn't say anything. She forgot that he may not remember but, that name asking sentence is just something reasonable (More reasonable than glomping and stating, "You're sooooo cute!", of course.), she's a human, so she can forget things, right? "Oh yeah, I forgot."

Silence fell upon them.

"You… Really don't remember anything? Your name? Your birthplace? Or even how you look like?" Rin asked.

He didn't reply but looking down to his feet. After (more-less) a minute, he finally said something, "Guess… No. At all."

Rin stopped herself to ask more completely unneeded question that already fill the blank space in her head when she looked at him. Now he looked…

Sad.

And sadly enough, that looked adorable as well in Rin's eyes.

"… Then, what can I do to make you remember? You can't stay here forever, right? Lucky enough that my parents is not here and… Won't be here, though." She asked.

"I… don't know." He said, but it sounded like he's holding his voice for coming out like it supposed to be.

"There must be a way to do it." Rin said.

"Need some help?" She asked again.

"Can I help you?"

"Even just a little, can I?"

"…Hey."

Rin just couldn't hold it anymore, she looked at him straight on eyes, "Hey, say something…"

* * *

~~I hate this chapter and I will hate the next chapter as well.

Ah, thank you for the reviews~


	3. Chapter 3: Broken

~~Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid.

* * *

"What? You're kidding!" A yellow-haired-in-a-side-ponytail girl yelled loudly and again, more than necessary.

"Of course I'm not kidding, Akita-san." A purple haired man replied calmly and still managed to keep his ear perfect despite the sudden ear-breaker that attacked the whole person in that room at that moment. "Besides, you're the first person who knows that he's missing."

"Actually no, I though those," She pointed to the people around her, "people was joking at me. After all of them said that they didn't know, I thought that Len is the one who joked on me."

The man looked surprised by her words, "What did you call him?"

"The _Almighty Kagamine-sama_." She lied (though she knew that she knew that she lied). "I thought he's the one who joked on me, but later… Yeah, Len's missing."

The man coughed, "You call him by his name? How rude."

"Become habit already! And I can call him whatever I want! Or I won't go!" She yelled. Luckily, not as loud as before.

Enough to make that man let her to do anything/say anything she wants. "Okay, so you will go?"

"Hmph." She looked away, "And that teal-haired freak is coming as well?"

"Hatsune Miku," The man corrected, "will come. And she doesn't have any problem with this. I'll be really thankful to you if you call person with their name, not some strange _nickname_. And call Kagamine-sama like you're supposed to."

"Hm?" She asked him with some kind of assuring tone that can be translated as, "I can call them whatever I want or I won't go."

"…You may leave." The man said.

And the girl left the room without saying anything else.

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Rin woke up hearing her oh-so-loud alarm clock. She pressed a button on it to shut it off. After that, she stretched her arms and looked out through the window. "Going to be a bright day."

She skipped to the bathroom after picking her uniform-thingy from her closet. She just was feeling happy and light today. And again, think about how she's going to get detention. Bombing the school? Oh no, she could be killed because of that and Teto as well Gumi! She may be wanted to be scolded, but she still has heart, you know.

She turned the shower knob slowly and let her body being washed by it. Having shower always washed her incredibly random minds away. And actually she used to be really random, a way too random, Gumi will say that.

After having a peaceful shower, she skipped out from the bathroom, smelled orange like usual. She just doesn't know why she likes orange and why oranges are so good.

And her thought of 'Oranges are soooo good!' make her remembered about 'That person' who looked like her, hopefully in her dream. She might check, if he wasn't there, then that whole confusing things about 'The person who got amnesia' is just a dream.

She remembered that she asked him to sleep in the guest room, so she went there (still skipping), opened the door a peeped in.

And yes, more than enough purpose that that things weren't a dream _at all_. He was still sleeping peacefully there and…

Rin closed the door to avoid herself from killing him unintentionally. She got no idea on how he looked so adorable. "I'll… Just let him sleep, then…"

Then, he's overly adorable for her like something that can be punched and hugged and… She stopped her violent mind before what she was thinking becomes true (really happened).

She had to go to the school before she got late.

* * *

"I think I almost late." Rin said.

"Aw come on! School starts 30 minutes again, Rin-chan! I'm just… impressed that you're not trying to skip the school for…" Teto said, her voice trailed off.

"Oh shoot, I don't think of that before." Rin said, slapped her own head.

"Ah Rin-chan, after all… I think you're a good kid and that won't change no matter how much you want to ruin it… Come to the school 30 minutes before the school starts… A good kid, indeed." Teto explained.

"And you?" Rin asked back. "For what purpose you came even earlier than me?"

"…You know that I don't have anything to do back home…" Teto said truthfully.

Then, both of Rin and Teto are good kids that always say the truth.

"Like that? Actually I still have something to do back home…" Rin said, "Like… Playing with… Or…" Her smile (more accurately, smirk) became wider on every word.

"You know, you're kind of scary right now, Rin-chan…" Teto said.

"Am I? If I'm scary, so then there must be a way to get the oh-so-wonderful detention, eh?" Rin smirked again.

Teto had to slap herself again. "God, actually I wish I could be you, living in no problem, and you? Looking for problem."

"Yeah, people always want what they don't have and they want to let go the thing that they already have." Rin said _wisely_.

"Then… Sooner, if you got the trouble already, you don't want to have it again?" Teto asked, "Your words are the opposite of your _wise_ words…"

"Not mine though, quoted form Gumi and she probably quoted it form someone or somewhere else." Rin said while sighed.

"Yeah, about Gumi, I wonder when she will come back after… Vacation, I guess?" Teto asked.

"Sooner." Rin replied.

"I know that, though." Teto said. "Your answer isn't helping at all."

An answer that didn't even help.

_"Maybe they were made for that 'delicious purpose', Orange-san."_

"Hey Teto-chan, looks like I'm facing a trouble right now…" Rin smirked, "You know, that trouble just didn't go well at the beginning but I enjoy it…"

"Something happened yesterday back on your house, right?" Teto asked.

Rin's smile didn't falter at all, "Yeah, a trouble happened. And until now I'm still facing it."

"…I don't know I should congratulate you or pray for your… _safety_." Teto said.

"Aw come on, this is safe. I know it." Rin said.

Because she didn't see any lies in his innocent eyes.

* * *

Rin couldn't help but sighed on the way back home.

"…You tried it again." Teto said, recalling what had happened in the class, where Rin give her middle finger to the teacher.

"Yeah, I'm still trying." Rin sighed in desperate, she had tried that but… The teacher just said, "Ahaha, Kagamine-san! You try to be bad, eh? All of us know that you're a good kid!"

"…Seems like all the teachers will just give the same impression to you, because you're what you are, you know…" Teto said in a tone that tells something like 'You should stop'.

"But I think I chose a wrong teacher to show my middle finger. You know that teacher is always and will always joke around." Rin said, out of hope.

"That's what the teachers think of you, always joke around. By the way, that middle finger thingy just seems… Wrong."

"I know it's wrong! And actually the opposite of that is what supposed to happen… But then, yeah I know that that ah—!"

"Wrong, the meaning is a way _too wrong_ and the grammar is completely wrong." Teto pointed up.

"Could you just… Stop noticing the freaking grammar and… Better help me to reach my goal!" Rin snapped.

"But you said that you found a trouble and still facing it until now? So then actually, you got your goal and you're facing it right now… So doing things at the school and home is not needed anymore?" Teto asked.

Rin halted suddenly, "Yeah! I forgot! Teto-chan! I'll run from here before the trouble goes away! Bye!"

Then Rin ran as fast as she could to her house. The confused Teto was left behind.

Teto tilted her head, "Can a trouble _goes_ away?"

* * *

"I'm home!" Rin slammed the house door open right after she unlocked it and barge in like something terrible is going to happen if she doesn't go in. And of course, slammed it back so it would be closed. But that thing (door) just made an annoying, loud sound.

"…welcome back." Someone replied in such a little voice, but she still managed to hear it.

Hearing it, she sighed in relief, "I'm scared that you're run away or something like that when I'm away, No Name-san…" And Rin walked to the living room, the source of the voice.

"…I have a name. All of us supposed to have name." He said.

Rin scratched her hair, "Yeah I know that… It's just you don't remember it, eh?"

He nodded.

Rin looked at her surrounding, all calm and in peace. Then it hit her. "So, you're sitting here the whole day?"

"…Yes?"

Rin face palmed, "At least… Can you do something like… Ah you know, watching TV or reading a book, and I'm not asking you to do it now, I'm just offering because I'm sure you don't know what is a TV, right?"

He didn't reply but started to grab an orange.

"You want that?" Rin asked.

"I am not supposed to be." He replied in a robotic-kind way of talking.

"Oh, of course you can since I'm letting you to stay here, right?" Rin said, smiling widely.

"Really?"

"Yeeeah…" Rin rolled her eyes. He looked like some kind of lost pet…

"No, I do not want it." He said.

"Okay, so I'm the one who will eat it~!" Rin said, snatched the orange from his hand.

He just didn't say anything, not even doing anything (except such as sitting, breathing, you know what I mean…).

"Hey, actually what's wrong with you?" Rin asked. "You looked… Down since... Yah…" She just didn't want to bring up something that brought him down.

"…Nothing." He said.

"There's something." Rin retorted, she just met him yesterday, yet she cared about him.

"…Nothing, at all…"

"It has to be something."

He shook his head.

"There's something!" Rin yelled.

Way too loud.

"Sorry, just couldn't help myself from… Okay, sorry… Whatever is that, I want you to forgive me, okay?" She tried to stay calm.

"Okay."

Rin sat up fast, "Okay then, I have to fetch some oranges now… Gotta go…"

"Ah wait, I…" He called after her, but Rin stopped him.

"Just stay here until I got home, be a good kid like me!" Rin said and the sound of closed door could be heard.

Rin as a good kid just didn't fit well in his opinion.


	4. Chapter 4: Name

~~This story _was supposed _to have 14 chapter or so... But I've written more than that... Ah...

Disclaimer: Go back to the previous chapter and read the disclaimer.

* * *

The teal haired girl just laughed hearing her friend's statement, "I've said that…"

"But Miku, that's completely unfair!" The yellow haired girl protested.

"Yeah, you just can't deal with that guy…" The teal haired girl known as Miku said.

"You don't know his name?" The yellow girl asked.

"Of course I know that Kamui Gakupo-san…" Miku said.

"Eh? His name is strange…" She said truthfully.

"Shoot, better preparing." Miku warned the yellow girl.

"When we're leaving, anyways?" The yellow girl asked.

"Tonight, thinking that the portal just opened at night…"

"_Tonight_ you said? Crap, all things just turned worse for me…"

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

"Oranges." Rin said, throwing some oranges to the small fruit basket on the table.

"Oranges." He repeated.

"So… Say… How should I call you? I just can't say 'you' just like this…"

"I have no idea."

"…Well…" Rin started, "Because you look _freaking_ like me, so I'll just call you 'My look alike'! How's that?"

"…Too long."

"Ah, you're right… So then… Think of that, I've always imagined that I have a male counterpart, and yeah, he should be looks like you! So then, you're 'The male Rin'!"

"I am not you, either…"

"Bah! You're right again. Well then, my name is Kagamine Rin, usually called Kagamine-san, Kagamine-chan, Rin-chan, or just Rin—don't add orange to the list—so then, a male me should be called something like 'Kagamine-kun'. How's that?" Rin smiled surely.

"That is better but I am going to repeat that I am not you or you might say 'Male Rin'…"

"Okay, so… Kagamine-kun… You're Kagamine-kun, then. Better get used with that."

"Eh?"

* * *

Rin's phone beeped, she grabbed the little yellow thing and opened the new mail.

_From: Teto_

_"Actually what kind of trouble managed to go away? –Teto"_

Rin giggled a bit, then replying the mail.

_To: Teto_

_"No, he's not going away, still here ww -Rin"_

But she realized something that was (indeed) very wrong in that sentence so she chose to delete all of it.

_"No, the trouble is still here ww -Rin"_ And she pressed the send button.

The answer came out not so long after that.

_From: Teto_

_"…Congratulations? –Teto"_

_To: Teto_

_"You know that you should congratulate me ww -Rin"_

_From: Teto_

_"Anyway, Rin… I'm going to do some shopping tomorrow? Want to go as well? –Teto"_

_To: Teto_

_"Of course ^^ -Rin"_

_From: Teto_

_"…But I thought that you're going to visit your parents' grave? I'm okay by myself –Teto"_

_To: Teto_

_"OH SHIT I FORGOT –Rin"_

_To: Teto_

_"It's okay, I'll go after visiting, don't have anything to do... –Rin"_

_From: Teto_

_"Eh? Your trouble? Managed to fetch it? ww –Teto"_

_To: Teto_

_"Think of it, I might—"_

"Hey, Kagamine-kuuuun!" Rin called loudly. "Want to go to my parents' grave? Or shopping?"

"Eh?" He asked back, a little louder than usual (and that 'Little loud' is still low).

"Visiting grave or shopping?"

"E… Eh… Just do whatever you want… Eh?"

"Don't say that you don't know what a grave is or what is shopping!"

"I know what a grave is, though… But shopping… Go to shop for something?"

"Erm, it doesn't mean exactly like that, but I'll take that as a 'Yes'!"

_"—bring along my trouble ww –Rin"_

She closed the flap of her phone, and headed to the living room.

"You sure you're okay with that?" Rin asked.

"I am sure because I do not get the meaning of it." Kagamine replied.

"Argh." Rin face palmed again. "Okay, so… Me, you and my friend are going to shop for some things like clothes, CD, and yah, many more."

"Just to warn you that I am not a girl, Kagamine-san."

"I know that! Wait, you're calling me 'Kagamine'? You're a Kagamine as well!"

"A made-up-one. I do not even know my real name." He said.

"Aw, don't be like that, you'll know sooner…" Rin said in some strange tone.

That make the male Kagamine became suspicious of her.

"I'm going to sleep now…" Rin said, "Even though I don't feel sleepy at all," She muttered. "You can sleep at the guest room like yesterday."

"Okay?"

"Okay… Yeah, by the way, what time did you woke up this morning?"

"Time?" He asked back.

"…I've thought that asking this will just become useless…" Rin said, "Time, something that always flows and won't stop. They can't be reversed, anyways…"

"Cannot be? That is… Terrible." He said.

"Nothing terrible with the time!" Rin shouted, "And the clock, there, is the thing that tell you the time."

"Uh yes?" He replied unsure-ly.

"Clock, yes. And then, that kind of thing that you wear on you wrist called watch."

"Hm."

"Then, how to read it… See the long-thing-whatever it called? Yeah, if the short one points to the, example, number 4, so it's 4, the time, four." Rin continued, though unsure about her way of explaining.

"I see."

"And then, the long one, if it points to the, example again, one, that means 5 minutes… Add… To the… Short one?" She trailed off, unsure.

He didn't say anything after that, so Rin assumed that he…

Didn't understand.

"Okay okay!" Rin finally said. "I can't explain at people well so let's just look at the square thingy there," She pointed to a digital clock, "and just read whatever number are there."

"So… That thing also tells the terrible time?" Kagamine said.

"I've said that time is not terrible," She sighed, "the answer is yes so let's just sleep now~!" And with that, she shoved him into his 'current room'.

"Goodnight and have a nice dream!" Without even looking to the extremely confused person who was shoved in, Rin closed the door and walked to her own room, sighing.

"Problem is a problem, indeed."

* * *

"Soooo, then Kagamine-kun, wake up and do something." Rin called loudly in front of the guest room door. Rin used to be a morning person, she could sleep until very late night, though.

"May I ask what do you mean by that something, Kagamine-san?" He asked with head popped out from the door.

"Duh, told you to not call me Kagamine, it's Rin. And that something is taking bath, changing clothes, have a breakfast and yeah, preparing." Rin said, tried to be patient.

"Breakfast?" Kagamine tilted his head in confuse.

"Don't tell me that you didn't eat _your_breakfast yesterday… And lunch." Rin eyed him suspiciously.

"Lunch?"

"Gah! Breakfast, eating at the morning and lunch, eating at the noon! You didn't eat anything yesterday morning and afternoon?" Rin said in disbelief.

"…I did not."

"I still don't get your way of… Living." She muttered. "So, just take a bath and change your clothes to this," She shoved a pair of T-shirt and jeans out of nowhere, "people will think you're a ghost or something un-living if you go out in that. And one more thing."

He turned his head to face her.

But she went to his back and…

"I just realized that you use a _ribbon _to tie up our hair." Rin said darkly and not so long after that she jerked his hair (or the ribbon).

"That hurts."

"And tie it up using something more… Better like rubber band or something like that." Rin said, ignoring his words. "And by the way, how could you say something like 'That hurts.' with that expression? You should be looking more, you know, pained."

"Pained…" He ended up digging the meaning of the word so Rin pushed him.

"Just go!"

* * *

After minutes passed (plus some yelling, of course), both of them were well-prepared and now walking to the destination. It's just Rin wearing a huge, white bow on her head and Kagamine (the male one) looked better and less ghostly than before.

But Rin still think that he's some sort of creepy and that creeps her out a bit.

"Um, you know Kagamine-kun…" Rin said something to start the conversation, avoiding the awkward silence, "I… said that I will help you to… Um, remember so then… Eh… It's like you know… That…" Rin stopped herself, knowing that she's getting nowhere to the point of the talk. "Ah yes!" She suddenly continued, "What is the first thing you realized like… After you 'appeared' in my house?" She used the air quotes.

"Just that," He replied, "I don't remember anything happened before that."

"Including like your… Erm, personal things such as name, birthday and the other blah-blah?" She asked again.

"…Yes." He said quietly.

And Rin hates that (to be honest, she's scared).

"Well… It's hard eh, since we don't have any clues, at all…" She smiled so sudden, "It's up to you then, but at least try to remember, even just one thing…"

And the male Kagamine just thought that 'Rin with smile' was somewhat scary for him while replying, "Okay." without thinking.

"And yes, here we are." Rin said, smirk on her face.

Now they were standing in front of some grave.

"…All of them are your parents?" He asked out of the situation.

"Of course no! My parents were only two!" Rin hissed.

And they engulfed in silence.

"Ah, the story is…" Rin started, "I was just 6 when they died, so I didn't really feel how to lose someone important on your life… That's when…" She giggled, "I was mad at them because they didn't buy me the toy that I want, so I forced them to buy oranges…" She looked up to the perfect blue sky, "I just didn't know that that will be the last time I saw them and… Yeah, after that, they didn't come home of course. So, my aunt came to my house and telling me something while she cried and… I still didn't understand the meaning of death back then and I didn't feel sad at all. I even attended to their funeral where people cried. Years passed and after 1 or 2 years, I understand that I've lost my main family and… I cried." She looked back at the grave, "It didn't last long though, I could accept their death and I live like… Alone." She finished her story.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this… But then, I'm used to that…" Rin said.

"But you feel lonely." He said out of sudden, successfully received wide-eyed look from Rin.

"You know it." She whispered.

"I know that." He replied, in small voice as well.

"But I'm not that lonely, I have friends on school!" She smiled brightly, no evil aura from her.

And that was rare.

"Hehe… I'm all okay by myself here mom, dad… So don't worry!" She began to 'talk' to the grave while the male Kagamine just stared at her questioningly.

After that, he began to look around the graveyard. Then, his eyes stuck on a single grave. He stared at it.

"Um, Rin-san, may I ask something?" He asked.

"Yeah of course!" She answered brightly.

"You said you only had 2 parents, and may I ask whose grave is that, on the right?" He asked her carefully.

"Of course I only had 2 parents…" Rin mumbled, "That one? Kagamine Len? I don't know though… The surname is the same… Eh, maybe some relatives or… Yeah well, maybe my brother!" Then Rin stopped. "Sorry, ignore me, I always wished to have one… But honestly I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"Um, that… Just curious." He said, eyes still glued to the grave. He was sure that he ever heard that name before, it was incredibly familiar to him.

"Oh…" Rin said, giving a single response. But after that she realized something, "Eh? Do you remember something?"

He just kept staring at the grave, not saying a thing. Rin could tell that he's thinking deep inside.

"You know him, maybe? Like, that Len is your… Something or somebody or… Well… Like that?" Rin said between happy, concerned, curious and worried.

"Ah… Len is…"

"Len is what?" Rin asked in enthusiasm.

"…a name…" He said and made Rin face palmed.

"I… I know that as well…" Rin said in a disappointed tone.

"Eh, no… My…" And he looked even more confused.

"…your what?" Rin was getting impatient. She made a note to herself to be more patient.

"…name…" He muttered lowly.

"…I… really don't understand," Rin said. Well, that was the truth, "You're confused and I'm even more confused but…" Rin 'activated' the random mode in her head, "Let's just combine them to… Your name?"

Silence.

"My name…" He repeated. "My name?"

Rin got it. His name, "Hey, say your name…"

He tilted his head to a side, currently searching for the answer. It took a while, but he said it anyway.

"Len."

* * *

~~I don't like the ending.

I can't insert more-than and more-less symbol... Always like this?

Ah, how's this story? Good? Bad? I want some opinions~

ww=LOLOL

Hm...

Review?


	5. Chapter 5: Together

~~I learn something from the previous chapter and...

Disclaimer: -you know what-

* * *

"And here we go." She smiled (but can be called smirked as well).

"I wonder how come you managed to handle this…" The yellow girl asked her.

"Ah, actually I'm okay with anything… And this one sound fun, eh? Searching for a missing important person…" Miku said with slight giggle.

"That's your opinion, you know… By the way…" The yellow girl trailed off.

"Hum, what?" Miku asked.

"MIKU, THERE ARE 6 FREAKING DOORS THOSE LEAD TO 6 FREAKING WORLDS! NO CLUE WHERE IS HE SO WE HAVE TO GO TO 6 FREAKING WORLDS?" The yellow girl yelled.

"Whoa, calm down Neru!" Miku said, startled with her sudden outburst. "Just think about the biggest chance of finding and we go!"

"But if we don't? We have to go to another world? That sucks." Neru said.

"Nah, we will…" Miku said, facing the 6 _freaking_ doors. "Now, think about our origins, hm?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Miku smiled again, "We'll go, down to the Earth."

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

No one said even a single thing after that.

After a minute of silence, Rin broke it with an "Eh?"

He covered his mouth with his hands in a very quick movement. "…did I say that?" He slowly asked.

"Uh, I'm afraid you were." Rin said cautiously.

The male Kagamine looked away from the grave that he had been staring at, "Uh… I… I don't know why I said that but uh…" He stuttered nervously.

Rin cheered, "Yes! You remember!"

"…I really am?"

"Duh, you are." Rin smiled, "So, your name is the same as that person's name on the grave, eh? Kagamine Len."

"Eh… I don't know about surname but…" He was cut off by Rin.

"Like I care, your name is Kagamine Len. Okay, let's re-greet, eh? It's nice to meet you, Len-kun. My name's Kagamine Rin, you can call me Rin or whatever you want but no 'Orange', okay?" Rin grinned after that.

Len didn't say anything after that.

"Y… You know, th-this is awkward…" He stated.

"I think like that as well, but at least it's not terrible like the time…" Rin giggled and pulled up her phone, "Now let's see what time is this…"

She noticed an unopened mail and she opened it.

_From: Teto_

_ "Rin-chan! Where the hell are you? –Teto"_

"Oh crap I forgot!" Rin said loudly and began to screech off to the town, pulling Len along with her.

* * *

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry Teto-chan, something happened at the graveyard and yeah, I'm late… Sorry sorry please forgive me Teto-chaaaaan!" Rin said, keep bowing to the red-headed person in front of her.

"You know, I'm okay with that… But Rin, you know that time is running out, so our shopping time will be _cut_." Teto said, mimicking the 'cut' part by making her hand act like a knife.

"I know so I'm sorry for that, really _really_ sorry for that." Rin said, bowing again.

"…So, time runs out as well? That is even worse…" Len muttered at the back.

Rin turned to face him, "Don't… Start, okay?" She emphasized the words.

"Um…"

"And may I ask who is he, Rin-chan?" Teto asked with a smile on her face.

"He's… Like I've inform before, the trouble!" Rin said easily with a grin from ear to ear. "My brother, Kagamine Len!" Now she lied easily.

Len decided not to comment because somehow it will threaten his life.

"I don't know you have one, Rin-chan…" Teto eyed her suspiciously.

"Eh, we didn't live together, you know…" Rin lied again, "Separated when our parents' died."

"Uh then, what makes him a _trouble_?" Teto asked, "I'm afraid you don't know about the real meaning of 'trouble'…"

"I know it, sadly," Rin said calmly, "The trouble is… Eh, he lost his memories, all-of-it, so then I helped him to remember? Maybe like that."

"Like that? Really?" Teto asked, "I feel sorry to you."

"He doesn't need to be sorry-ed! I'm here!" Rin said cheerfully.

"Oh okay, so then let's go now! To the heaven…" Teto said, started to walk away.

"Heaven…"

Both Teto and Rin turned to face the boy, "Not the real heaven, I mean." Teto said with a chuckle.

"…But Teto-chan, I don't think he even know about the real meaning of heaven…" Rin said in a small voice.

"Eh really?" Teto asked in disbelief, then she turned to Len, "Do you know the meaning of heaven?"

"Um… No." Len replied truthfully.

"Rin-chan! This is really bad, you know…" Teto said.

"I've said that before." Rin rolled her eyes.

"I mean, seriously, serious!" Teto hissed. "He really doesn't know anything?"

"No-thing." Rin said, cutting the word, "He didn't even know the meaning of 'Human' and 'Earth' before… He didn't remember who I am, or who himself is…"

"Rin, that's… Terrible." Teto said in a small voice.

"O… okay, so you know that he's a real trouble for me and stop using the word 'terrible' I had enough of it." Rin sighed, "Just… Get going to the shopping."

"Oh yeah really sure!" Teto pumped her fist up.

* * *

"Let's sit, uh?" Rin said carefully, "My legs hurt."

"Okay then…" Teto said, searching for some café while munching some French bread (out of nowhere).

"That one? Still got empty seats." Rin said, pointing to a café.

They headed to a nearby café and sat there, waiting for a waiter to come.

That's when Teto slammed her head to the table.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked.

"I just… Forgot that your brother is here, he's silent all the way… Not even complaining…" Teto said truthfully.

"Uh yeah, he's really silent… And about the complaining, he really doesn't complaining at all! I make him carry some of my bags, he didn't even say a word and just obeyed me." Rin smiled widely.

"You what?" Teto looked at Len, who sat across her.

"Uh… What?" Len just asked back confusedly.

"You're not her servant, right?" Teto pointed at Rin.

"…Eh, sorry but I…" Len looked down.

"Servant, Ser-vant…" Rin tried to explain but failed miserably. "Open the dictionary."

"…D…Dictionary?"

"…Oh my God." And now Rin's turn to slam her head to the table.

They were engulfed in an awkward silence.

"…Sorry…" A small voice broke the silence. Rin looked up from her head on the table position.

"Sorry!" Len repeated the word more loud and clear, "I am just being a burden here, sorry!"

Then it came again, his adorable sad face.

Rin grabbed a nearby bottle of drink and squeezed it at the hardest power she can effort. The cap of the bottle nearly opened and a drip, more drips of the drink went out from the bottle. She just did that because she can't resist that, his sad, adorable face.

"S… St… Please stop… That…" Rin said, trying to keep her voice small, or else it'll come out like a crazy squeal. "Stop… Being… S… Sad…"

Confused, Teto looked at her friend, "Rin, what's wrong with you?"

"Teto-chanIcan'tresistit!" Rin muttered something unclear (on Teto's ears) and released the poor bottle of drink and squeezed Teto instead.

"R-Rin-chan, that hurts!" Teto said, she looked to Len to see the think that actually happened.

He smiled.

Not that kind of real smile, but a sad smile. Teto still took it as 'smiling' so she just said, "Rin, it's okay, he's smiling!"

"Mmmh!" Rin said something that can't be understood, still not looking to the person Teto said before, "I can't, Teto-chan!"

"Can't what? Rin, you got strange so sudden, actually what's going on?"

Rin looked at Teto with a strange face, "Teto-chan, I'll just kill him if I do!"

"And what do you mean by that?"

* * *

After everything settled down, now they're having some drink on the café. Rin with her (of course) Orange Smoothie, ("I'm still wondering why you don't allow me to call you Orange-san…" "Len-kun, can you just shut up and no orange mentioning!") Teto, a drink with some bread pieces on it and Len with Banana Smoothie ("Think of it, with some crazy imagination, you can see his hair like a banana peel! So, I'll choose this for him!" "Rin, you're the one who have that crazy imagination, right?").

"This tastes good~" Rin said, enjoying her drink. "How do you think, Teto-chan?"

"Anything orange will be good for you, Rin… And yes, this one also great!" Teto said.

"The same goes to you, Teto-chan! Anything bread will be good for you, so don't even make comment. And Len-kun, how about yours?"

"Uh… This is… Good." Len said unsurely.

"Wait Rin-chan," Teto cut, "You call him with 'kun'?"

"I am," Rin said, still enjoying her Orange-whatever. "Since… You know what I mean."

"Rin, you're not explaining anything." Teto sighed. "And Len-kun, how do you call her?"

"Rin-san, since she does not allow me to call her 'Orange-san'." Len answered honestly.

Rin face palmed.

"Uh, awkward, eh?" Teto said, didn't know have to say what. "Ah well… That will be better as the time passes…"

"Teto-chan… Why do you bring up that 'Time' topic?" Rin asked hollowly.

"Uh what? I can't?" Teto asked back.

"No no no no, it's okay… But he, will ask." Rin said truthfully, pointing at Len.

"Kasane-san, what 'time' means?" Len asked, "Rin-san said that it flows, will not stop and irreversible, it also runs out. Actually what that means?"

"Time is a somewhat… Period. It flows forth, so it can't be reversed back. Time's running out because the time keeps flows. Time always moves forward, that makes it passes…" Teto said, looking up to the sky.

"…That is even more terrible." Len said straightly.

"I've told you that nothing terrible with the time!" Rin yelled impatiently.

"That's what you have to deal with an amnesic person…" Teto giggled. "So, I'm congratulating you, Kagamine Rin."

"Eh? For what?" Rin asked.

"You got it, a trouble." Teto smiled.

"Yeeeeeah… But Teto, you've congratulated me before." Rin said.

"I'm re-congratulating." Teto said.

Everyone became silent after that. While Teto, is thinking about something.

Something that sounds strange, but she didn't know what.

After a minute thinking it hit her, "Wait. Len-kun, from where you know my surname?"

"…Do I know?" Len just asked back at that question.

"Rin, did you tell him?" Teto asked.

"I think no… I don't even tell him your name." Rin said, placing her finger on her lips, staring up.

"I don't, either." Teto said. "From where did you know?"

Like usual, Len just told the actual answer, "I do not know."

When the suspicious feeling built up in Rin, Teto think that something just… Not right at him.

"Hey, do you remember who's Rin before she told you?" Teto asked.

"I do not." He answered.

'Why I have feeling that this will go bad?' Rin thought just when Teto asked her something.

"And Rin, where did you meet him?" Teto eyed him suspiciously.

"Eh, eh?" Rin asked in panic. "I found him in my house from nowhere just like a stray dog and I don't know who he is!" Is something that she couldn't say. "Aw, it's 3 already, let's get going then. Teto-chan, I have something important to buy so I'll leave now okay? Meet up at that supermarket and Teto-chan, will you pay? Okay thank you!" Rin said and then rushed away without saying anything more.

Teto sighed, "She just doesn't want to say anything to me, right?" She sighed again, "I'm just trying to be serious in kidding attempt by asking unnecessary questions but looks like that doesn't go well…" She looked to the table. "I'm sure you bring along some money here, Len-kun. So can you…" And that's when she realized that she was talking to no one. "Oh God, she takes him away…"

* * *

"She must be thinking that I'm some kind of freak…" Rin thought out loud, "Leaving like that…"

"I understand that you were dodging Kasane-san's question by running away, but I am not sure about the reason you dragged me along." Len said in small voice like usual.

"Because I need to tell you something." Rin said, "I'm just playing a drama, because I don't know who you are and mostly, you're not my brother or something like that, we're not even related. Just go along with the drama because Teto will become suspicious of me if I said that I bring along someone I don't even know. She could kill you if she wants to." She stopped. "Okay, honestly I can kill you whenever I want as well but…"

Successfully made an insecure feeling on Len.

"So, you will kill me?" He asked a way too easily.

"Nononononono, not that what I mean!" Rin panicked. "It's somehow… Indescribable, soo… Nah, let's get going before Teto got suspicious of us. At least… Buy something here…" She began to stare at some stall.

"Oranges."

"You got me very well…"

* * *

~~「UP SIDE DOWN A B A B B A B A 左 右 L R L R STOP & DASH & UP & TALK 異常ナシ」~ (←singing)

I'm not going to say anything (else).

Thank you for the reviews and... Down. Yes... That button... Please?


	6. Chapter 6: Terrible

~~Heheh, long time no see...

I'm too lazy to update... Eheh...

* * *

Tall buildings soon showed up after some minutes of cloudy sight, making some strange shaped shadow between lights from here and there, lighting the dark night.

Their shoes hit the ground and made a small tap sound. The shadows of hair that was blown by the wind could be seen from 100 meter distance away.

The first girl smirked and opened her cap, revealing her hip-length twin-tail, "Okay, so here we are, at the Earth, where humans live and dies."

"Actually I'm pretty confused about you, Miku." The other girl soon followed her to open her cap. A side ponytail fell down to her legs as the cap opened. "You seem have a split personality, a kind girl and a mean girl."

"Uh, really? Neru, I think I always be like this." Miku said sweetly, honestly.

A way too different with the previously smirking Miku.

"Nah, there it comes. Oh well… You don't realize it!" Neru yelled.

"Oh sorry, but that's the truth. Now we better go rather than talking about something unnecessary here." Miku said, began to walk away.

"Wait Miku! You know where he is?" Neru asked with a loud voice.

"Ssh, it's night already, polices may come up and arrest you if you keep yelling like that…" Miku said. "And of course, I don't know!"

Neru eyed Miku strangely, "…I thought you know."

Miku just grinned, "Well… If you want to call me smart or something sounded the same, just call me that. But I'm not that good, you know…"

"So, you're not that almighty someone who know everything?" Neru joked.

Which was strange.

"Of course no." Miku calmly said. "So, let's began to search now."

Right after she said that, an old man came to their direction.

"Um, excuse me miss… Do you know the way to this place?" He asked in some unknown language for them, showing a badly-drawn map on his hand.

"Eh?"

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

"This is soooooo, good!" Rin said excitedly. And if you notice, again. The same phrase that she said every time she eats orange.

Yes, she was eating the just brought orange. And she had many more in the plastic bag on her left hand.

"You have said the same thing before." Len commented _robotically_.

"Stop commenting on each moves I made," Rin said, still enjoying her orange. "We should go back to Teto-chan. Even though she seems suspicious on you already."

No one said anything after that. They just walked silently back to the café, where Teto was supposed to be waiting.

But after they arrived, they found no one there.

"Okay, strange. Where did she go?" Rin asked to no one in particular, with a slight of sigh.

"Bread shop." Rin just didn't expect that the answer would come from her back.

"From where do you know that?" Rin said with a slight annoyed voice.

"I am not stating." Len said. "I am asking."

Rin sighed. "Okay, so if you want me to understand, stop that monotone way of talking. Your way of talking and asking is the same."

She got no comment after that, as she wished. Then, she made her way to the bread shop with Len trailing behind her.

"Rin, can you explain what's with your sudden runaway?" Suddenly Teto came out from nowhere, pulling Rin's huge bow on her head.

"Iiiie… Teto-chan, forgive me… I have a sudden… Need for some oranges…" Rin smiled sheepishly.

"Then, why did you drag along that _thing_?" Teto asked again, voice rising while her index finger to Len.

"He… He's good at choosing orange!" Rin said. Lying _perfectly_.

"Rin, you're soooo mean!" Suddenly her mood changed to a gloomy one. "Because you run away and pulling him along, I have to pay for the drink! Because of that I only managed to buy bread from the rest of my now running out money!" She showed her bag of bread in front of Rin's face.

"S… Sorry… But actually you can wait for us to come back or… Or-r… You want me to change your money?" Rin kept herself calm while her heartbeat kept going faster.

"Hmph, I just hope that you'll pay for my snack on Monday…" Teto said walking away.

"O-okay then! B-bye!" Rin said unsurely and began to wave her hand to her friend's back.

After Teto was out from sight, Rin began to felt uneasy. "God, that's really, extremely bad…" She muttered.

After that, Rin just looked back at Len with a huge grin on her face. "Now, it's just the two of us, let's do something, eh?"

Len just want to go home and hide in his room, avoiding Rin and her scary grin.

* * *

"You know that I'm living alone, peacefully in my house, so I have to cook for myself." Rin explained.

Len nodded.

"But then, I'm not that good at cooking, so I just make simple things like eggs, rice, and… Yah, you know what I mean…" Rin continued.

Len nodded.

"Sometimes, if I lazy, I just go to buy some ready to eat food. They're better than my result of cooking, though. But it's more expensive than cooking by myself! Think of my money…" She just continued to explain.

Len nodded.

"…Some of them have to be saved for my need of the wonderful orange… I can't live without orange~"

Nod again.

"And one more thing, Len-kun. Can you stop… Nodding and give me some words instead?" Rin said.

But she didn't get any reply.

"Okay, that's better." She said and began to pick things from the shelves.

The things itself was really random. From peanut butter to some strawberries. Even tunas and ice creams.

"Um, may I ask… Actually what do you want to make?" Len asked.

"Well… That's…" Rin said casually, then her word came out as cry-alike. "Ho… Honestly I have no idea."

While actually, Len had no idea of what is cooking.

* * *

After buying some ingredients, Rin cooked something.

And Len learned that cooking is making something to eat.

Now, they're sitting on the dining table, staring at the food—which is a complete abstract, mixture of brown, grey, red, white and yellow. The shape itself is just a bunch of small, colorful cubes.

Len tilted his head to a side, "And this is…?"

"Exactly, a food. My masterpiece of colorful abstract food." Rin said, grinning. "Try a spoon?"

"Not hungry." He said quickly.

Rin just amazed that actually he can react that fast. "Then, I think you never feel hungry… If you're really not feeling hungry, I'll eat it by myself." She said I brought the spoon filled with the unknown strange thing to her mouth.

As soon as the food collided to her tongue, she averted her gaze to her back. "As I thought, I'm not good at cooking." Then she averted back her gaze. "I'm just glad that you don't eat this, Len-kun…"

Her expression changed suddenly. "But, if you don't eat anything, you'll die soon."

Len opened his mouth to talk, but Rin said something else before he even managed to say a word. "And, die… Seems like you understand this thing already."

"Yes. Both time and die are terrible." He said in again—monotone.

Rin just _laughed_ at this, "You're right, and my cooking is also terrible, if I can say…"

* * *

~~Short... Even shorter than the first chapter O.o

...Too innocent.

Len is too innocent in this story... Argh, now I'm regretting this...

Ah, exam(s) is (are) nearing... But I'm too lazy to study... *hit*

How is this story? Good? Bad? My English is nowhere good, so forgive me if something's... Strange. Really sorry *bows*

Byee~~


	7. Chapter 7: Happiness

~~I was going to update this earlier, but... Ehee~

* * *

"Neru, you know it's rude to run away from a person who needs help…" Miku said while sighing. She was just half-running with Neru to nowhere.

"But, we don't know what he wants. Besides, we don't understand even a bit of his words. And Miku, from where do you know that he's asking for help?" Neru said impatiently, still dragging Miku.

"Er, from his way of talking and he was showing a map, right? He must be asking for direction." Miku said a bit calmer.

"Gah! You're a way too kind, Miku." Neru said, receiving a smile from Miku. "We still have thing… _Things_ to do."

"What things are they?" Miku asked innocently. "We just have to search for him, right?"

"…Have no idea. But I think we have to do something beside that. And Miku, you think finding him is an easy task to do? God, I think you're broken."

"I'm not a machine, I can't break." She giggled.

"Enough for the joke, Miku."

"So Neru, can you explain where are you going to bring me?" Miku grinned at Neru.

"Like I know. And I begin to feel sick of your strange, out-of-character smile…" Neru looked away.

Miku just ignored her after that.

"Okay, so where we're heading?"

The aura that was surrounding them suddenly became dark. "His birthplace."

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

It's 6 in the morning. And just like usual, Rin woke up early even though it's Sunday.

"I hate being a morning person." She mumbled while walking to the kitchen. "Guess I have no choice but making breakfast now…"

She took a frying pan that has been hanging on the cabinet lazily and put it on the stove. She turned on the stove and left it for a moment to pick up an egg from the refrigerator. Then she walked back to the stove and fried the egg.

"I call this a breakfast… Yeah…" She talked to herself, hand holding a spatula and began to flip the egg. "At least making a simple dish is better than…" She ended it with a sigh and smile, remembering her failure on the previous day.

After she was done, she put the fried egg on the plate. She opened one cabinet taking something from it. Later, a toaster was revealed. She plugged the toaster and put some bread into it.

"It's Sunday, but I just don't know why I always wake up too early. I can't even enjoy my weekend break…" Leaving the toast, she went to the other side of the kitchen and began to make some tea.

After all things was done (the tea, toast, etc…), she went to the dining table to set up the things she had made and eat them up.

She just didn't expect to found someone sitting on the dining chair.

"GAH!" She exclaimed in surprise and jumped back, almost throwing her precious just made breakfast.

It took a minute for the poor Rin to realize, "O-oh, it's just you, L-Len…"

"Morning." He greeted sleepily.

"Eheh, morning…" She greeted him back and sat on the chair beside him, putting the meal on the table.

"Wait, I forgot to make another one." Rin said and ran back to the kitchen. Once she reached the kitchen, she sighed in relief.

"I totally forgot that he's here…" She muttered to herself and began to make another meal.

She went back to the dining table once she finished with her meal-making.

"Itadakimasu~" Rin cheered and began to cut the egg and ate it up. "Ah, this is better than yesterday's failure, but still… Not as good as oranges!"

Len stared at her, "So, yesterday's meal is a… failure?"

"Um, o… of course no! Th-that's my new in—yeah, invention!" Rin laughed. Then her fake smiling face gone. "Of course it's a failure, what else?"

They began to eat their breakfast silently (but not-so-silent, it filled with a slight clatter of the table…). Honestly, Rin never like silence, so she broke it up, "So, what wakes you up this morning? You woke up earlier." She said, still munching her food.

"A loud sound." He replied shortly and resumed eating.

"What sound?" Rin tilted her head and then realized something. "Oh, yeah. Something tripped me on the corridor. And I fell with a 'thud'! Yeah, forget that…" She trailed off when she realized something wrong. "Wait, wait wait wait… Len, you're mixing the tea and egg **together**?"

"Hng? Yes, why?" He asked back innocently.

"That's… Wrong. You still can mix bread and tea together but… This is… Wrong." Rin pace palmed.

Len stopped eating and waited for Rin's instruction.

"Well… That… Ah, okay. Eat your breakfast whatever method you use and… Help me to clean the dishes." Rin said straightly with some-sort-of serious tone.

"Rin-san."

"Yeah, what?"

"Where is the suffix?"

Rin froze.

More accurately, her brain froze because she didn't understand.

"Wait, I don't get the meaning of your question." She said truthfully.

"Ah, forget it." He said.

* * *

They were washing the dishes together in one sink, close to each other, leaving some awkward feeling for one of the person who was washing the dishes.

She felt that the thing that they were doing just became awkward. It's just being close to each other, but she felt it really awkward because she didn't get used with being close with another person. And this one was even worse, different gender.

She didn't know, should be feeling glad or disappointed because he didn't even complain anything.

And she was sure it was because he didn't understand.

"God, why we're washing this together, anyway?" Rin took a step back from the sink, allowing Len to get more free space.

"Uh, you were the one who asked me to wash the dishes. But you followed me so…" Len said unsurely.

"Uh, oh, yeah! I-I mean, now you can sweep the floor or doing something useful for me, I'll wash the dishes!" Rin stammered, pushing Len out from the kitchen. Practically, she didn't want to care about what he was going to do at that time, her mind was too full of random thought and panicked as well.

"Think of it Rin, I begin to regret for my wish of getting some trouble…" Rin let out a long sigh and continued washing dishes.

That's before she heard something sounded suspicious from the outside of the kitchen.

She let out her head to give a peek to the living room and its surrounding—that was now clean without even a single dust.

"Eh? How did he do that… So fast?"

* * *

"So the cleaning is finished, then I can—FINALLY!—enjoy some oranges…" Rin said, sitting on the couch, relaxed. Her left arm began to trail to the fruit basket, reaching for some oranges on the table.

"Rin-san, will you die if you do not have any oranges for… A week?" Len asked, slowly, cautiously.

"You don't need to wait for a week, just a day—maybe 2, I'll give up of my life." Rin answered lightly, sounded like she just let out some random word from her mouth.

Len just kept staring at her.

Rin eyed him back, "What? You want some?"

"No. Thank you." He replied shortly.

Rin thought of something seriously (not-really-serious, though). "Len-kun, can you make your sentence at least… longer?"

He tilted his head, "Longer?"

She explained, "Yeah, like… More than 5 words in one sentence… You're a way too silent for me."

But seems like that word just didn't work, he stopped talking after that.

Rin sighed, knowing she failed, again.

She failed in so, many things. She began to think that she's a somewhat, failed human being.

She shooed that thought away and focused to the clueless person in front of her. "Okay, let's practice."

"Speaking?"

"No, eating. Of course speaking and nah, that 'Speaking?' is the reason why we—I mean you—need this." Rin said sarcastically. "Now, tell me about yourself."

Len thought something for a moment than said, "Name, Len."

Rin waited for some continuation, but that didn't come after a minute. And maybe more.

Enough to make Rin face palmed. "…Seems like I asked you to do the wrong thing. You… you can't tell me about yourself, of course." A sigh. "Maybe I should ask you to—wait, your name is… Len? With an L?"

She got a confused look from pair of emerald eyes, "Um, yes?"

"…I thought it was something sounded like 'Ren'… Continue. Tell me about… Me! Kagamine Rin!" Her voice increased at the end of the sentence.

"Orange-loving, active girl." He began. "With a huge bow put on, you can see her looked like an orange, probably."

"Er, I never thought that you have that useless line in your talk as well…" She mumbled in an almost whispering voice.

"A kind person who can not tell the difference between R and L."

"Wait wait, I think you're getting better now. Ironically, you know me more than you know yourself. But please, stop telling me strange things about tongue or head or fruit…" Rin protested.

"…Orange-loving, active girl." He repeated the sentence that he had said before.

"You're going to tell the whole thing all over again. Stop it." She said, stopping him off. "This is going to nowhere…"

Tired of his talking useless things about her, she decided to ask something else. "Tell me about yourself." Without realizing that she repeated it, she said.

"Rin-san, the thing that I know about myself is my name and…"

"And?"

"And…"

"…Yeah."

"Rin-san, I can not do this. I can not remember anything."

"…Yeah, I know."

"So why did you ask?"

"…Honestly, I don't know. I know I better shut up than talking about… A thing that leads to nowhere."

Suddenly Rin exploded, "Yeah! I know what to do now!" With those words, she stood up from the place she had been sitting at and pulled Len's wrist. "Let's go out!"

"Oranges?" He asked. Rin rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No, this is for… Erm, probably not for oranges, I still have some…" She said. "Or you want some oranges?"

He shook his head, saying something, "Rin-san is the one who wants it."

"Eheheheh, really… This is not for the oranges' sake…" She grinned sheepishly and pulling him out.

* * *

"That's a building! A tall one!" Rin exclaimed excitedly, pointing at some huge and tall building.

"Um, I think I know that…" Len commented.

"Oh God, pleeeease Len-kun, I'm just trying to help you." Rin pouted, feet ready to head to the other place. "I found it annoying when you asked for almost every single thing, so this will fix it. Probably."

"Probably…" He repeated after her.

"Aa, probably. Because I'm not really sure of that." Rin said truthfully.

They passed some shops near the streets. Rin chose to ignore the most things on the street (she just don't care about the things on the shop, they just selling unimportant things for her) and continue to drag Len.

Until they reached another street, still with shops. But for Rin, those shops were more interesting than the shops at the previous street. She began to slow her walking speed, deciding to look at the shops more closely.

Antique shop, by the way.

Rin doesn't even care about history, but she just didn't know why she looked at the things there with interest.

"Maybe there is something interesting here, like… what?" Rin muttered something but became confused with her own words.

Rin still looking at the things with some strange, great interest ("Uooo, an old orange peel! They have something like that as well? Cool!"). Her (amazing) random thought stopped suddenly when she felt something tugging at her sleeve.

_Someone_, to be more accurate. And of course, that someone is Len.

"Rin-san." He called out, the pointed at something on the shop. An old clock. "Does the time stop?"

Rin looked at the clock, and gaped. She really wanted to laugh out loud at his (dumb, for her) question. But that would be rude, so she looked away from him and let out a giggle (or chuckle).

Too bad that Len realized Rin's strange attitude. "Am I… Asking the wrong thing?"

"I… It's just, you're too innocent… No, I mean plain." Rin said, still giggling a bit. Then she took a deep breath, "Len-kun," She started, "The clock is just showing the time. The clock will stop but the time won't… At least, hasn't. See? I'm still talking, we're still moving along with all the living people around the world. That means that the time still moving."

"So we halt if the time stops?" He asked.

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, "You're a good and smart boy!" Without knowing, she patted his head.

Which was strange, since he's taller than her.

"Rin-san… This is… You know, embarrassing." Len said, straightly, honestly.

Because Rin could see some kind of blush form appeared on his face.

"Oh well… Sorry for that~ I just couldn't help it!" Rin said, took a step back from him.

Rin just smiled after that, thinking of what she's doing and what he's doing right now. Teaching something like this to someone who you didn't even know before is just fun for her. Deep in her heart, she felt happy. Happy… Because he was happy. She loves seeing him happy.

"Well Len-kun, let's go somewhere else!" Rin said, pulling him by the wrist once again.

'Being with trouble brings happiness?'

* * *

~~What's... Wrong with this chapter...?

R and L is the same in Japanese... Right? *unsure*

Aaaaanyway, thank you so much for everyone who have clicked, viewed, read, reviewed, and favorited this story ･ω･ I love you all~

Oh, the next chapter will be... Telling about Miku and Neru... No Kagamine(s), sorry. I don't understand why I made something like that at the first place... Because their story doesn't catch up with the Kagamines? Maybe.

Once again, I love you all~


	8. Chapter 8: Hatsuneru

~~I've said it in the last chapter that this chapter will be... Yeah.

All I did is rechecking this chapter again and again and again. Somehow I **am not** sure about this chapter...

Disc: I don't own them. They don't belong to me.

* * *

Neru left there at Miku's sudden self-change and her statement with a static, dumbfounded face. After not saying anything for some seconds (or maybe minutes), she croaked out some words, "And… Where… Is it?"

"Hm… Let me think of it…" Miku then said _sweetly_. Neru wanted to open her mouth wide because of Miku's sudden change, but decided to keep her mouth closed. Miku started again, "Maybe the place where people speak our language? Erm… What does this called… Ah yes, Japanese! So it's Japan!" She held up her index finger, pointing to the dark sky.

"And how can we get there when we don't even know where are we?" Neru asked, tone of voice had become lazy.

"Have to search it by our own selves." Miku said straightly, though the words she made out is not that good.

At least for Neru.

"Miku, seriously? Maybe this place is far-away from the place you call Japan! And even like that, you still want to search it, just… 2 of us?" Her tone of speaking rose at the end of the sentence. "It can take… Maybe forever!"

"Ah, so like that?" Miku asked Neru with voice lowered, "Then, how to finish this task?"

"Like I want to know… Besides, I don't even want to go here… So you can do it alone, Miku." Neru finished her _speech_. The turned her body away from Miku, but got a sudden impact on her back. Turned out to be Miku glomping her. Neru, of course, surprised, "HEY, LET ME GO!"

"Noooo, you have to going along with me in the taaask~" Miku said rather playfully.

"God, Miku… Are you broken? I'm 100% sure that you still like boys, but why hugging me?" Neru yelled.

Miku released her not-really-death hug and looked at Neru straight in the eyes.

"You've said that before."

"Do you have, at least something more important to say instead of that?"

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

"So… Neru, how was your sleep?" Miku asked, putting a grin on her _bright_ face.

"Ah well… I really prefer sleeping than walking to nowhere like this…" Neru said, starts to walk away from the place they slept—a small park.

"Your name is Neru, anyway…" Miku muttered slowly. Not slow enough to make Neru didn't hear it.

"You can call me Nel, then." Neru said.

"I'm kidding…" Then Miku hopped beside Neru, then following her to walk.

"Well… Yesterday… I mean, last night we have to go to Japan, right?" Neru asked. "I just realized that we don't need to know where we are right now, but… Let me do something, okay?"

"Eh, are you sure about that?" Miku asked.

Neru didn't reply, but directing her index finger to a random person.

"Don't tell me that you're going to…"

"You!" Neru yelled, loud enough to make the pointed person turned his head to her, then said something Neru didn't understand, though she ignored his word. "From now on you understand and can speak Japanese!"

Miku slapped her face, "Oh God, that's what I scared of."

"Then, I demand you to answer my question." Neru said, not even paying attention to the other thing. "How to go to Japan from here?"

"Using plane, of course…" Then the man laughed. Miku took it that he is a kind person. "Why do you ask, anyway?"

"Just asking, why? Miku, let's get going." Neru replied the man's kind attitude with her rude one, and she grabbed Miku's wrist, ready to get going.

"W-wait!" Miku said, turned her head to the man's one. "Uh, sorry… I want to ask… Where we can get this… Plane?"

"Airport? Go there," The man pointed to some direction.

Miku bowed at him, "Thank you very much!" Then she turned back to Neru. "Why acting rude?"

"I've lost my patience already." Neru said, a bit calmer.

"…You do that to all people?" Miku asked.

"Can do anything I want if I want to." Neru said easily.

"Including—" Miku was cut before she could finish.

"Len? I _practically_ never talk to him." Neru stated.

Miku didn't reply until 15 seconds. "Neru, you better stop saying _that_ word."

"Why?" Neru asked back—of course—rudely.

Miku grinned, perfect white teeth showing, "That's how you ended up being here."

"Why?" Neru asked again.

"Actually, Kamui-san allowed you to stay there if you didn't do that name mention and not saying your usual quote…" Miku said truthfully.

"Nobody told me that!"

* * *

"This is an airport?" Neru asked, looking up to a huge building in front of her.

"Yep. Exactly… Maybe?" Miku said, her previously sure word turned to unsure one. "I forget Earth already…" With that, she rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm not going to ask about earth anymore… I'm sick of this place already." Neru said truthfully, looking for a way to enter the huge building.

"That one." Miku pointed to a glass door. "Get in."

They entered the building. None of then said anything after that, they were too busy looking at the people there, going here and there in different direction.

"Uh, crowded." Miku said, trying to find some other gate between people. "And, I have no idea where is this plane if the place is crowded like this." She continued.

"Ask again? I'll do it." Neru said, approaching a brunette. Before she could reach the person, Miku pulled her.

"No! I'll do it!" She said in panicked voice, throwing Neru aside and faced the woman. "E-excuse me, do… Erm, can I ask you something? Do you know where is this 'plane'?" She asked fast.

Still in Japanese.

"Oh! You speak Japanese as well?" The woman asked back to her.

"E-eh, yes we do!" Miku replied—again, fast. Her previous insecure feeling had gone, hearing the person's somewhat friendly way of talking.

"Good, I have someone to talk with even just for a moment, I don't really understand English." She said. "And the plane? Where are you going?"

"Um, somewhere called Japan…" Miku said.

"Eh? I'm going to go back home as well!" She exclaimed.

"G-good…" Miku commented. Just an important one, though.

"Well, I'm going to go… The place is crowded like this, I can get lost if not hurry…" She trailed.

"Wait!" Miku prevented her from going away. "…You still haven't answered my question."

She grinned, "There." She pointed to a gate. "Just follow the way… Ah, by the way, have you buy ticket?"

Miku froze. 'Plane needs ticket?'

Ticket has to be bought.

And it's a way too clear that Miku and Neru didn't have any money.

"Neru, this is problem." Miku whispered to Neru.

"What problem?" Neru asked carelessly.

"Money. We need it."

"Hey, what are you two talking about? How about my explanation? Clear enough?" A nod. "And, have you bought ticket?"

Miku grinned, "Ah well… Actually, we're out of money…" After that, she didn't know had to say what again. Luckily, Neru tugged her sleeve.

"Why not making one with magic?" She asked with very-not-Neru small voice.

"Erm, that one sounds wrong." Miku said, and turned back to the woman. Then let out some kind of giggle.

"God, of course you can't go if don't have money…" She muttered. Then some idea hit her head (brain?). She clapped her hand. "Ah maybe this will work!"

"What work?" Neru asked.

"Let me tell you first. I'll pay the ticket for the 2 of you now… Aa~nd, my friend back in Japan just opened a new café. He still needs some employees to do this and that on the café… Well… I'm offering you the job. From the job, you got money and… Pay the ticket to me!" She exclaimed with a bright smile on her face.

"Maybe that will work." Miku said quickly (she had no more idea in her head, maybe this will work).

Neru, of course, want to say something, but before she could say anything the woman already cheered happily. "Yeah! I'm helping 3 people in one time!"

"And…" Miku said, bringing back the woman's mind to the correct place.

"Oh, sorry. Just excited. I'll tell him about you two…" She said, picking up a thing from her pocket and flipped it open. Then she pressed the buttons on the thing and paused. "Wait, I don't know your names."

"I-I'm Hatsune Miku and… This," Miku pointed to Neru,"Akita Neru."

"Hatsune and Akita, huh…" She said, eyes back to the thing on her hand, resuming pressing the buttons. "I'm Sakine Meiko, by the way."

"O-oh, nice to meet you…" Miku greeted. A late greeting.

"Same here." Meiko replied. Then she closed the thing and put it back in her pocket. Less than a second after that, her hand had reached Miku's and started to run.

Miku pulled Neru's hand when she knew she was pulled. Looking back to Meiko, she asked, "Sakine-san, we're going now?"

"You can call me Meiko, though… And the answer is yes. We're going to be late if not…" Meiko said, not stopping running.

"This will be fun, eh?" Suddenly Meiko exclaimed. A strange grin formed on her lips.

"…Oh no." Miku said, realizing that they were in _danger_.

* * *

~~Aaah, short. The next chapter will be... About the same *hit* Sorry! But it'll be back to the normal thingy... Miku and Neru at the beginning and continued with Kagamine-tachi ･ω･

Neru and Nel is (well, practically) the same in Japanese.

Well, the next update. Sooner or later? I just won't be in the internet next week (I don't know when I will ^^), so...

I... I want reviews but I don't want to ask for them. It's just too... Ah~

R-r-review, anyway...


	9. Chapter 9: Unexpected

~~Maybe the last update before I have to study for the exam... Next week. Oh no, next week... And another one in April... Whyyy~

Disc: I don't -you know what-

* * *

After hours being in the plane, finally they could get out from the extremely boring place (Neru kept giving a strange look to anyone who had that something in the pocket, while Miku humming to herself, ignoring other people—actually people were entertained with her voice—and Meiko sleeping all the way).

"Hnnnng~" Miku inhaled fresh air outside the plane. "Being there is not really good…"

Neru chose to not say anything. After all, outside the plane (the airport by the way), people who had _this thing_ is more. She couldn't help but feeling curious of that thing.

"Enough with the refreshing, we gotta get going." Meiko said out of nowhere and began to pull Miku again. And Miku pulled Neru. Again.

"We have to start today?" Miku asked, looking at the surrounding that was different from the previous place called Ame—something like that.

"Of course no, just going to greet him and this and that." Meiko said.

Miku didn't know what made her brain damaged or something. But she just realized that they were dragged to some kind of work.

"Ah well… At least we're in Japan now, more chance for looking—"

"Hey Miku." Neru called her. "I totally forgot about our freaking task… We should go looking for…"

"I know that! But Neru…" She grinned sheepishly. "We have another task from Sakine-san now…"

"GAH! THIS IS GETTING REALLY ANNOYING!" Neru yelled, earning some stare from people around there.

Meiko looked back to the source of the voice. "What's the problem?"

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

Kicking rock can be really fun if you're in a bad mood or neither, really bored.

Exactly what Rin was doing at that moment while walking home from school. She just kept kicking the innocent rock here and there, mind completely went to nowhere.

Unluckily (this word seems to be 'luckily' in Rin's opinion), an unlucky rock hit a random dog who was sleeping near the street. The dog noticed that Rin was the cause of that, and started to…

Chase her.

On the other hand, Rin, feeling really excited that the dog was **actually** saw her and chase her. She ran away to her home with high excitement. "Finally I got chased by a dog!" Rin exclaimed to herself, still running away.

Then, she reached her house and she swung the door open, got in and slammed the door close. Shouting an "I'm home!" loudly and excitedly was the thing she did after that.

She ignored the no-answer and began to talk to herself, "I just can't believe that finally there's a _lucky_ dog that chase me! Finally they realize that I need to be chased!" Then she plopped to the couch. "That was really fun!"

Finally calmed, she thought that she heard something. Which is also, an alarm because Rin just realized that Len was nowhere in her sight.

Rin put her ear to catch the voice more clearly by making less sound. Then, her ear told her that it was a piano sound from upstairs.

And yes, Rin just remembered that there is a piano in her house. She hardly plays it because she got bored of playing piano, beside, she couldn't play the piano really well. But the sound that reached her ears was piano sound that played really well.

Getting interested, she went up to upstairs. The voice increased in every step she took. More steps she took, the beautiful melody became clearer.

But that melody stopped abruptly once she really reached the top. Rin somehow felt disappointed. Her arrival stopped the sound.

"Ah, welcome back home… And sorry." Here come Len's voice, she could see his head at the other side of the piano.

"Hng? For what?" Rin just simply asked him.

"For… Uh, pressing the button on this thing so this thing makes some noise…" He pointed the piano, referring the _thing_.

Rin didn't know how to react. Slap herself, or laugh, or feeling _impressed_. But she just let out some words from her mouth, "It called playing, not pressing."

Len just stared at her for some moment. "Like that?"

"Like that." Rin said. "Pressing is… Like this." She demonstrated it by hitting some random notes only with her index finger.

Still, he didn't get the meaning. "And… That looked the same with this." Then he played some notes on the piano.

Now Rin slapped herself, "Okay, you win. There's no _pressing_ the piano, good or bad, still called _playing_. But then, the way you played—you can say pressed, whatever is that—is… Just too good…"

That last word commanding him to continue playing (indirectly), but seems like it didn't work. "Continue playing." She said.

Then, the music started again. It went smoothly, Rin was really enjoying it. She never heard people play piano this good and smooth before.

Something passed on her mind. 'So he can play the piano—really well. So maybe he can do some other thing as well…'

"Erm… I began to think about this…" Rin said, "How about you, go to… School? Where I go every weekdays… Studying something and… Yah… At least it's better than staying home… Ah, by the way, don't you feel bored when I'm away?" Rin's statement turned to a question.

"Not at all." Len replied. But his answer leads to two things in Rin's mind. First: He really didn't feel bored because he—maybe—still examining things around the house and second: He doesn't understand what is feeling bored.

Rin chose to ignore that because she knew that her question went away from the main topic. "Ah so then… How it is?" She asked, back to the topic.

"Up to you." With that statement, the piano stopped making sound because it was no longer played.

And Rin didn't expect him to make answer like… that. "You're getting better. And I take that as a yes. Maybe I can give you some test…" With that, she pulled him away from the piano and went downstairs. "But, play the piano again for me some other time!"

He looked back to the black thing, "…Piano…"

* * *

"You're at the same age as me, right?" Rin asked, but quickly made an answer by herself, "Wait, I know that you don't know that. A yes."

Something like that could make people sweat-dropped, but that didn't seem to work on Len.

"Maybe you can answer some (freaking hard) question from my book…" Rin said, hand still busy taking this and that.

After some moment of self-business, Rin finished re-writing the questions from her books. Then she gave the paper to him. "Do it."

They were in silence after that, so Rin chose to hum to herself, knowing that Len wouldn't mind her at all. But the fact, he did mind.

"Your voice is…" He said, not sure about the last word.

Rin stopped humming, giving him a look, "What? Bad, right?" She laughed. "I know that."

"…It is not bad at all…"

"Eh?"

"Uh, nothing." He turned back to the paper and resuming writing.

Seems like Rin always realized something that not really important, it happened at that moment…

"…Hey, are you left-handed?"

That question somehow made Len stop writing. "Huh?"

"Never mind." Rin said.

Not so long after that, he gave the paper to her.

"Okaa~y now let me check…" Rin said, wasn't expecting him to finish that fast. Actually she also wanted to say, "Your writing is good." But she didn't say it for some reason.

Once she finished checking, she widened her eyes. "Now, it's strange."

"Eh? Did I answer it incorrectly?" He asked with some kind of _cute_ voice.

"No… I mean, all the answers are correct…"

"…"

"…"

"Eh?"

"…Crap, you're smart."

"And exactly, what do you mean by that, Rin-san?"

"Oh… You're smart!"

"…Rin-san?"

"Ah well Len-kuuun~ Can you do my…" Rin stopped. "Never mind."

"…"

Actually Len hated being clueless.

* * *

"Teto-chan! Can you believe this?" Rin said excitedly, really-not-Rin because usually she looked bored.

Well, Teto was the one who felt bored at that time, "Yeeeeah, what?"

"Yesterday I got chased by a dog!"

Silence.

"And that's… Oh, good for you." Teto commented, not looking forward to hear Rin's story.

"Aw Teto-chan meanie~ You're not in mood to listen to my story, right?" Rin said. "Okay, I won't force you to hear my story."

"But Rin, I want to tell something." Teto said.

"And what it is?"

"…You probably know the reason of my bad mood today."

"Erm, not really. I get no idea."

"God, Rin… Well… To tell the truth…" Teto paused. Then continued with some whines, "My brother ate my last bread!" Then she hugged Rin, acting crying.

Rin patted Teto's head.

"I'll buy some more for you." Rin said, stopped the pat but her hand stay still on Teto's head. After that she let go of her hand and stepped back.

"I need to do something. I'll be back. See ya." Rin announced and went away.

Teto smirked, "She actually believed that that's the reason of my bad mood. Of course no, Rin is just too plain… Ah, I just have to take the good side, she'll buy some bread for me…"

* * *

A certain pink-haired woman heard a knock on the door.

Hearing that, she looked at the door and said, "Come in."

The door opened slowly, revealing a girl with blonde hair with an over-sized bow on her head. "Excuse me."

"Ah well, Kagamine-san…" The principal greeted her, "The best student ever! What do you need?" She asked to Rin.

Strangely, Rin just smirked, "Well… Megurine-sensei, actually I _do_ have something…" Then Rin started to walk forward, approaching the principal. "Have some time to hear it?"

Well, Megurine Luka just learned something today.

Kagamine Rin, the _good_ student with good grades…

…was actually a sly student.

* * *

"Well, how was that?" Rin asked, bright smile showing on her face.

Actually it was hard for Luka to keep her mind straight. So she just kept silent, not saying anything to Rin, the way-too-smart-student.

"Megurine-sensei?" Rin asked again.

"A-ah, yes, of course…" Luka answered not-so-surely.

"Okay! So now give me the detailed information!" Rin exclaimed, but it came out more to _demand_ for Luka.

"Oh my God." Luka face-palmed.

"And-!" Suddenly Rin exclaimed again. "I don't need to pay, right?"

"…Do whatever you want."

"Yay! Megurine-sensei is a very good principal!" Rin exclaimed again.

Luka just didn't want to hear Rin exclaim again. She'll die on the next time.

* * *

The door seemed closed and shut and sealed.

A sigh can be heard on the hallway.

"God, acting is sure hard."

* * *

~~I don't understand this chapter...

There were many grammatical errors and I had to fix it. Uh, I hope this chapter isn't... Bad.

Oh, and don't think about the illogicality, this story is somehow fantasy-related. By the way, I can't play the piano ^^

Hm, I'll update next... Hm, I'm not sure when... Maybe the end of March? Or the end of April?

Bye then...


	10. Chapter 10: Accident

~~Hmm, I'm back. Faster than what I thought... I'm writing chapter 18 right now... It won't go away from my mind...

Oh, in the previous chapter... Rin and Luka were talking about... Well, the point is Len could attend the school without Rin has to pay because Rin threatened Luka...

Disclaimer: Well, Crypton owns Meiko, Kaito, Miku, Rin, Len and Luka. Wait, Neru owned by...? Ah, it's not me anyway...

* * *

Miku looked at the café with great interest when Neru just put on her bored face still.

"Well, well… How do you think of this place?" Meiko asked.

"This place is… Is… Is what?" Miku didn't know the correct word to describe the place. "Ah, the main point is I like it." And she ended it with a grin.

"Well… That's good…" Meiko trailed, walking to a door on the back of the building. Then slammed it open. A way too hard.

She stared at the room for a while, finding no one in the room.

"Where the hell is he?" She muttered.

Then, blue-colored hair was shown on the back of some table there.

Meiko walked there and pulled something hard.

Pulled _someone_. Hard.

"Stopitstopitstopitithurts!" The person on the back of the table chanted something. Then he looked up to the _puller_, face turned to a horror one. "Me-Meiko, what are you doing here?" He stuttered.

"Eh—what? You don't want me to go back here? Fine, I'll leave with the going-to-be-helper…" Meiko started to turn her body and leave.

"E-eh, I don't mean that! O-okay, but just don't leave!" He cried.

"Hmph." Meiko faced him again with a slight of sigh.

"By the way, what do you mean by the-going-to-be-helper?" He asked while standing up and fixing himself.

"Huh?" Meiko asked back, confused, "Don't you get my mail?"

"…I don't receive anything…" He replied, taking his phone and found out that there was a new message. "Oh, I haven't open it…"

"Haven't open it? I sent it **yesterday**, Bakaito!" Meiko roared and smacked _Bakaito_ with a nearby newspaper.

Miku, who had been watching from the beginning from the door could only sweatdropped.

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

The sky was blue like usual.

He wondered, can the sky changes its color to something different? Everytime he stares at it, it always colored blue. Bright blue. And the clouds are white.

Always white.

He opened the curtains, to see the sky more clearly. And the other reason is because she never opens the curtains.

Was her house always dark, lights blocked by the curtains like this? He just didn't know that.

After opened the curtain, then he reached to the window, opening it.

He could see the sky clearer now. But the sunshine was too bright for him, so he chose to close it again.

Then he walked silently to the bookshelf, finding something to read (because he had nothing to do). Picking up a random book, he walked to the couch and sat there. Reading the book with the silence.

Just when he flipped the first page, the front door swung open and then slammed close.

Hearing the loud noise that broke the silence, he cringed. He thought that this should be followed of somekind of yelling—or something like that, saying "I'm home!" louder than necessary.

But that sound of yelling just didn't come as he expected. But he heard quick-paced footsteps instead. The sound of footstep became louder and louder…

Seems like it came to his direction.

And that was right, less than 10 seconds, someone entered the living room, shouting (or yelling) with that _louder than necessary_ voice, "Len! Look what I bring!"

It was more ear-breaking voice than usual, looking (_hearing_) from the distance, which just less than a meter away from him.

He gave her some-sort-of strange look.

And "Heh?" was the response he got.

She—Kagamine Rin—noticed the book that he was reading (previously, seeing that he had stopped). "Uo! You're reading?"

And he—Kagamine (?) Len, just didn't say anything.

Rin just seem over-excited today.

And the chance to _kill_ him increase—

"Oh, that book…" Rin commented. "About that book, I just don't understand what is written inside it!" She exclaimed brightly.

Was that statement should be _exclaimed brightly_? Or it's just Rin who got over-excited?

And over-excited Rin could means…

He just didn't want to think more about that.

"Ah," Rin broke his random thought, "By the way, you're going to go to school starts tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

"…Uh, great…" He replied with no expression.

"I don't want that kind of reaction!" Rin pouted, with that pout, her **huge** bow moved along.

"…So, Rin-san… Uh, is your big thing on your head… Living? Controllable?" Len asked. Something that completely had nothing to do with the _school_ topic.

Now, Rin gave her strange look. "No. Why did you ask?"

"E-eh, nothing."

"Okay… So… Hey, you're supposed to be excited!"

Excited.

No way he can do or act like that.

Excited: Yelling and jumping excitedly while thinking or reminded about orange.

Wait, that's Rin.

And talking about Rin, she had just thrown _many things_ to him. Some things like clothes (uniform?)…

"Um…" He began, and Rin cut him.

"Your uniform. For school, duh…" She said, a bit annoyed.

School. A terrible place to _learn_.

"Actually, school isn't bad at all… Or you can say _terrible_…" She giggled, like reading his mind.

Len stared back at Rin. "Rin-san, you are lying."

Rin froze, looked away. "You know, the only thing that makes it terrible is _my own business_, doesn't apply to you…" Then she added some grumble, "Because they never give me detention…"

They didn't say anything or do anything after that (except some things such as sitting, breathing, living, you got the point). Silence just passed and stuck there, not going anywhere else.

Rin didn't do anything, not even saying a word (which was strange). And Len turned back to the book, ignoring the previously thrown things.

Again in silence.

"BAH!" Rin said loudly, suddenly in attempt to scare Len. That thing just (sadly) didn't work, but Rin gained a look instead of hearing a yelp. Then she sighed, "Actually you're a human or not…?"

Len didn't say anything but looked back at the book, _trying_ to read it (since Rin disturbed him…) without saying anything.

"Hey hey!" Rin said, disturbing once more.

_Perfect timing_.

Again, he turned to her. But what he got was just her and her opened mouth that didn't even produce any sounds.

"…Nothing." Was the next word.

At this point, he felt really really… 'That'. Something boiling inside of him like a somewhat already. It's just he didn't understand what did that means.

"Um, I'm going to leave you for a moment, okay?" Rin suddenly said. And instantly, he felt relieved _and_ disappointed with that.

Why should he felt disappointed, then?

Eyes back to the book, he sighed.

* * *

Humming to herself, Rin looked at the mirror on her own reflection while buttoning her shirt. After she finished, she put up a big white bow on her head. She began to wonder why she likes to wear that oversized thing lately, but thinking that that thought wasn't that important at that time, she shook it off.

Reaching for socks, she continued humming, skipping with the tune of the _hummed_ song.

Sadly, her hand just didn't manage to reach the socks _properly_ and instead of getting that socks successfully, her face met the wooden floor harshly.

After that, she nervously giggled to herself, heading towards the door which connects her room to the living room directly.

Slamming the door hardly, loudly and harshly like she usually does, she greeted with an over-excited tune. "Morning!"

A head turned to her, giving a reply, "Morning."

Rin just want to slap her own face.

She just not that stupid to do that. But what she did after that was much better than _slapping my own face_ in her opinion. Putting her hands to her waist, she looked straight at Len who _had_ sat on the couch. Ready to lecture him.

Rin opened her mouth but before she can say a word, Len pointed to the clock. Probably reminding the time for her.

But then, seems like everyone love to cut her even before she start, or it's just her opinion?

"Uh, I understand what do you mean by that. I'll save it for later." And she went to the kitchen, quickly disappeared between the cabinets.

Since that day was special for her (although she wasn't really sure of that) and him, she decided to make a bento for the 2 of them. Just a simple one, at least better than ruining the whole thing like… Some days ago.

With that power of will, she started to grab some ingredients. Slowly she reached the rice, and began to shape it gently using her hands. Then she put it carefully to the case.

Finished with the rice, she turned to the things that need to be fried. She took the frying pan and set it up on the stove. Pouring some oil, she waited until it ready to use for frying.

She turned back and _just_ realized that another person was there (and you know who was it. Kagamine Len). Surprised, she let out a yelp and yelled, "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"A-am I not allowed to be here?" He replied much quicker than she had expected.

"N-no, you're allowed." Rin managed to say after recovering from a _heart attack_.

She took a deep breath and she continuing the job for preparing the meal. Left hand holding the food and the other hand holding a knife, ready to cut the food.

Unfortunately, the knife landed on the wrong place, which is her left index finger.

"Ouch!" Rin yelped loudly. Her eyes stared at her now bleeding finger in horror.

Still staring at her finger, water began to form on her eyes. After calmed a bit from the pain, panic formed on her head. Probably because blood just kept flowing from the open cut.

"Eh, ah… Tissue…" Rin looked right, left, back, front, to all the direction still for the sake of the tissue. But her eyes landed on a person who was staring rather blankly at the red liquid that keep coming out from her wound with interest and confuse-ment like he never saw it before.

Or did he?

"Do-don't stare at my finger! At least help me to find tissue or something like that!" She yelled, loud enough to make him jumped a bit. Spacing out, she noticed.

However, he didn't do what she asked him to. All he did after that was grabbing her wounded finger with his right hand.

She closed her eyes tightly, a yelp was ready to escape from her mouth as she waited for the coming pain.

Strangely, she didn't feel hurt at all, and she didn't feel anything (hurt) from her bleeding finger anymore.

Her eyes was cracked open slowly, carefully. Then landed on her finger that was gripped. She realized that he was still staring at her hand and his hand with the same blank look.

Slowly she released his grip on her to check on her wound. She saw her finger was still red from the blood.

But the wound had disappeared.

All she could do was gaping at this. None of them said a single thing after that.

This time, the male 'Kagamine' decided to speak first.

"Red."

Her eyes turned to a dot, "…what?"

"Red." He repeated with the exact same tune.

"Um, it's blood, you know… Think of that, no one doesn't know… I mean, every single person with children as exception, know what blood is. I guess you don't remember, eh?" She added a smile.

"Blood." He repeated after her.

She nodded. "Yeah. Now… I failed at cooking right now so just skip the bento, okay?" Then she began to clean the kitchen with him staring at her.

After finished cleaning, she took her bag and 'pull' him with her to walk with her to school.

However, she couldn't get it out from her mind, about her wound.

And Len.

* * *

~~Erm, I'll stop the chapter hating. And point out the mistakes... Please?

Right! The next chapter is longer, about 3,000 words...

Yes, replying. Something I never did before. But now I will because I don't know what to do... Wait, continuing this story? That 'I don't know blablah' is just an excuse.

ChocoCookiePuff-san: You do? I'm jealous... (?) Here's the next chapter~

Ruuya ruu-chan-san: I hope the explanation is clear enough ・ω・

Campanella-san: Really? That's... Really unexpected! So you play it as well...

twingklypurp-san: There's a reason of that... It'll be explained later~

Digital Moon Fighter-san: I... Don't know. Maybe I will make him speak more... But I'm planning on something... More.

SinoviVaatell-san: It is! Thanks for reviewing!

Kurara animeluver-san: They are... I don't know who! (I'm just being honest...) I'll think about that later.

Maybe that's enough... Sorry if something's... Wrong in the story or even in this note... (Long...)

Thank you for all the supports (noticing, clicking, viewing, reading, reviewing, favoriting, alerting)! Until... Erm, when?


	11. Chapter 11: Blood

~~Late update, Foooooooo! I have to plan the story seriously... I had accidentally made Kaito as Rin's teacher... Luckily I noticed that before publishing it~ And also, I made Gakupo as Gumi's brother *gasp* This happens when you wrote a story, abandoned it, and continuing it without re-reading it... Many mistakes~

I changed the summary and my user (pen?) name.

And...

Anyway, enjoy this (late) chapter... Oh, right... Thank you for the reviews~

* * *

"Welcome to our café! May I take your order?" Miku asked to the visitor, the frilly French maid costume became her outfit at that time. Working as the maid in the café wasn't a hard thing for Miku. Well, pretty much she could do almost anything. She had been working since the day before it, and nothing like an accident had occurred while she was working. Everything went smoothly.

"Well, she does a good job there," Meiko commented while watching the new worker who was still wearing her usual twin tails. Then Meiko turned to the person who was just sitting on the couch in the small office room. "Then, you're just glaring at her since… Yesterday, and not working at all?"

Neru shifted her glare from Miku to Meiko. "I am really not going to work with that outfit." She stated, her glare became more intense.

"Really?" Meiko asked with a somewhat-odd way of speaking. "You just let her pay for both you and her? Well, that's really selfish."

Oh yes, paying Meiko. Neru just remembered. Well, Miku could do it by herself, right? Then no need for her to work in that frilly, overly girly embarrassing outfit.

"Well, it's better than me working in **that** outfit." Neru added more stress on the 'that' word. "And Miku seems to be okay with that, I wonder why." She commented to herself.

"She knows her responsibility." Meiko said.

That left Neru into thought. 'Responsibility, huh?' Then she sighed. "Well Meiko-san, let me go for a walk for a while."

Meiko nodded in agree.

Well, Neru will just walk wherever her legs took her. It was okay if she was lost, then she doesn't have to work at that café at all. Good for her.

Or maybe not. She wanted to go home more than anything else. Yesterday they slept in the café (Kaito just let them since they didn't have any place to stay) and Neru didn't find it very comfortable. Well, to get home of course she had to find Len—

Wait, how they supposed to find him if they were stuck in the café?

After putting some logic in her head, finally Neru knew she had to work if they (she) didn't want to be stuck there. They pay Meiko fast, and they could go for the search again, right? Working together is easier than doing it alone, so…

"…so literally… Embarrassing outfit means go home, right? Well, I give up on running away from the job, then." And that's when she saw something displayed in a certain store that attracted her eyes (though she didn't even notice that she was walking on a street that **full** of stores), a yellow something that still shining because of the sunlight that shone through the glass. Even though she did not know what that thing is, she liked it already.

And yes, that thing was like the ones she had saw previously in the airport.

Somehow she wanted it really much.

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

That red liquid that comes out from an opened wound… Is blood? Red liquid… Some syrup has the same color like that right? Bright, fresh red colored thing that smelled so… Different than any other liquids. After all, blood seems to be… Strange? The color, the smell of it…

Blood is very important for humans, so if they don't have enough blood… They'll die? Well, Rin lost some of her blood when she accidentally cut her finger earlier, but she didn't die. Perhaps a larger amount of blood loss? Like, when someone's really wounded and creating a pool of sticky, fresh blood, then he or she will die? Then how about their feeling when that creating-pool-of-blood happened?

Happy?

Relieved?

Hurt?

It must be really hurt to be wounded. After all, the wound wouldn't be small if the amount of blood that comes out is considered as many.

So…

Wound.

Hurt.

Blood.

Pool.

…death.

The feeling of wounded and hurt… The color of the pool of blood and the smell of it… It's…

It's…

"Kagamine."

Both Len and Rin looked up from their textbook (or thought, or daydream) to the teacher.

"Not you, Rin-san." The teacher added. Well, it's pretty hard to address someone who has the same surname. And this one seemed to be… New to the teacher and all students in the class. _The_ Kagamine Rin, who doesn't get many attention from all people the class (excluding Teto), came with the usual bright face and smile of hers that never falters from her face. It was the usual routine. However, when everyone noticed that she practically was bringing a full-body, _living_ mirror of hers behind her, it wasn't 'the usual' anymore. However, this mirror wasn't exactly the same. If Rin is a girl, that mirror is a boy and he was wearing a boy uniform as well. Their height is different, that mirror was somehow (a bit) taller from Rin. Their hairstyle was also different, of course. No one would imagine a boy with a white, over-sized bow on his head.

Then let's step to the next revelation. His name is Kagamine Len. Strangely enough, that name seems to be… Suspicious. Rin and Len? Right and left? Were they really a mirror? Though later Len stated in the small volume of his voice that he's Rin's brother, but rather hesitantly? Well, it was official that Rin and Len were indeed, siblings to the class and school and… But the truth? Len was just a stray 'puppy' that was lost and Rin found that stray 'puppy' surprisingly, in her house. About their similar looks, maybe that's coincidence? If it was, then it's a miracle, then. But seems like there's no such things like coincidence…?

Back to the storyline, the teacher was referring to Len who got lost in his thought for a moment there. The teacher's call had made his thought got distracted, though. Was thinking about something other than the subject in the class was not allowed? Rin said that he just needed to listen to whatever the teacher was blabbing in front of the class… Then thinking wasn't allowed?

"Pay attention. You're still new to this school, then you need to pay more attention to the lesson, not thinking about whatever you have in your head."

How if he was thinking about the topic in the subject?

"Then, we have some quiz today." The teacher suddenly said, showing the paper that was filled with questions on his right hand. His expression was still the same, but his eyes said, 'Take that students!' plus an evil laughter. "I assume you had learnt about this before, just want to test your memory."

Well, that was a trouble for every single person in the class (including Rin, excluding the teacher—of course, he was the one who made the quiz, why should he troubled with it?—and Len who was actually still clueless about school even though Rin had explained him. It was Rin who explained, after all…). They thought that the teachers didn't understand them, really. Who likes sudden quizzes in the class like this, anyway? And the teacher was still giving it and giving it again… And it never ends, at least, the students feel like that.

The teacher had finished giving the paper without anyone noticing (none of them want to know). Some of the students had started writing. Their name, presumably.

Rin sighed heavily, some low mutter escapes from her mouth, "I hate quizzes."

* * *

Rin just didn't understand.

She really didn't understand.

First, that day wasn't Rin's lucky day. Really, quiz? Now she hated it even more.

Second, the quiz had many things that she didn't know. How could she understand it when she didn't even know?

Third, she didn't understand about Len. Well, when the teacher gave him the paper, all he did was just staring at it like it was something not from earth for about 5 minutes. Lucky her for sitting next to him, so she could make him do the quiz. The strange part that Rin didn't understand is, he did the quiz (test. It's a test) easily.

Wasn't that strange where he was in a complete clueless for 5 minutes and after that he wrote on the paper fast, like he wasn't thinking of the answer at all.

Though the teacher said that all his answers were correct, Rin still didn't understand.

How could a person like that exist on earth? Well, maybe they do, but… Really, he knows nothing (almost nothing) about himself and his previous life but knows that strange things that she didn't understand? Well, that was sure strange.

Rin sighed. Again. How to cope with this…?

That was when someone hugged her from back, tightly, and deathly.

"Rin-chan! That teacher is sure mean!" Well, it must be Teto, who else?

"You don't need to tell me, I know that already." Rin said in an annoyed tone, trying to get off from Teto's deathly attack. "What teacher will be… at least _kind_ to his or her students, anyway? I think they're also not giving me a detention is mean as well."

"I… think that doesn't even count." Teto commented. "But seems your answer is… Not that… _Wild_, Rin-chan."

Rin cut her off before she could say anything else, "And from where did you know my answers?"

"Ah well…" Teto smiled. "I looked at your paper, of course… After I collected mine. See? I didn't cheat!" Finally Teto released Rin for real. However, somehow she was still clinging to Rin. "But that's pretty hard right, Rin-chan? I'm just impressed that your brother could do it easily…"

Rin tried to give a comment, but nothing came up in her mind so she just said, "Uh that's…"

"But Rin-chan, you said that he lost his memories. Then how could he do that?" Teto paused for a moment then continued speaking, "…maybe he doesn't lose his memories, then? Maybe he's faking it or something like that Rin-chan… You're not fooled don't you?"

If he was just faking it… No, that couldn't be like that. Rin knew that he didn't remember about anything for real. From his way of talking, from his gestures, from his… All. Somehow Rin just trust him. His eyes don't lie to her.

"But Teto-chan…" Rin said with a slight whimper. Teto could feel that Rin's face darken at that moment. "You shouldn't talk about someone in **front** of that person…"

Teto widened her reddish eyes in disbelief, "Eh?" Then she turned back and saw…

Len, staring at her straightly.

Enough to make Teto release her cling from Rin ('Finally!') and muttered a bunch of apologizes to the 'victim'.

* * *

Time did flow fast at that day. Before knowing it, the school is going to end in some minutes away. This was both 'yes' and 'aww' for Rin. The 'yes' was; the school was going to end, at least at that day but still… You know the reason. The 'aww' was; she didn't get any detention or trouble, **again**. Although she had brought her supposed-to-be-a-trouble-for-her (a.k.a. her 'brother', Len) to school, seemed like his existence in the school didn't affect Rin's… Luck. Because what he did was tailing her like a duckling to its so-called-mama, seriously.

Rin looked at her wristwatch (since when she wore one, anyway?) ambitiously, in waiting the bell to ring.

Ring… Ring… That sounded just like her name, right? Rin… Rin…

It took some time for her to realize that the bell was ringing for real and not her imagination. Time to smile!

She tidied her books, as the others were doing the same thing. After finished, she walked lightly to the school gate. But seems like she was forgetting… _Something_.

Oh, yes. Her cute duckling…

Wait, what did she was thinking about? **Her**-**cute**-_duckling_? Instantly she thought that something's wrong with her. Maybe because of what happened earlier at the morning?

That really reminds her of her finger after forgetting it because the school's –you know what I mean-. She was back at examining her finger. Nothing was wrong with it. It looked like… Nothing had happened before.

After she got cut by the knife, she felt hurt—of course, who wouldn't? After that it was still hurting and blood still flowing out from the wound. Then, Len grabbed her poor, wounded finger and after that…

Then she realized that something was strange. She found a random boy in her house—how did he get in, then? She had forgotten that topic but thinking too much made her remember. He had said that he didn't know, but then how? Maybe he's a thief who barge in into her house, then got hit by something, and eventually forgot everything? No, her heart just didn't say that. Then how? Fell from the sky? That's impossible for a human, even if a human falls from the sky, wouldn't he or she would met the pavement or the roof instead? The logic works.

But then, how if he's not a human? Knowing that her wound healed instantly after he _grabbed_ it, is there any human like _that_? But how, is ghost or angel or devil really existed? Well, she didn't believe that. And what the other inhuman form? A half? Alien?

Maybe it's better if she asked the person than thinking something that she wouldn't and couldn't solve? She knew for sure that he will say that he didn't remember. But maybe if she's lucky, he would know something? He seemed to zone out during the class, maybe he remembered something and kept thinking of it?

And aside from the zoning out, he acted like nothing had happened. Like he never grabbed her finger and her finger just healed like that.

Suspicious, right?

'I'll ask, then. Maybe I'll know something…' Rin thought with a sigh escaped from her mouth. Len supposed to be on her back, tailing her like he always did, so she turned to face someone behind her, "Hey Le—"

She met no one.

"…where is he…?"

* * *

Well, she found him after 30 minutes searching. **30 minutes**. Where? The rooftop. She also noticed that he was staring to nowhere with blank eyes. Maybe he was still thinking about something?

It was the time for Rin to walk to him and pull-him-home.

"Hey Len-kun." She called, a thought passed in her head, 'Do real siblings call each other with suffix?'

As for Len, he seemed to be startled hearing his name being called. Quickly he turned back and faced Rin.

"Do you know what time is it?" Rin smiled with a dreadful look on her face.

He was taken aback with her scary face expression. "N-no…?"

Rin had thought since that time when he asked her about time, that talking about time to him would be useless. "Yeah, the time to **go home**, you know…" Her face had returned to… normal, but her way of talking was still scary.

It took him some time to realize his fault, then he began to asked Rin with panic. "D-did I make you wait?"

Rin _smiled_, "Well, you _do_ make me wait."

"S-sorry… Really sorry Rin-san!" A stuttering Len, enough to made Rin giggled and forgave him.

"It's… okay…" Rin said while holding her laughter. 'You look cute…' Rin wanted to say that, but what reaction would she receive if she really said that? Regaining her composure, Rin spoke again, "What are you doing up here, anyway?"

Her words clashed with silence.

"We-well…" Rin clapped her hands altogether, nervous began to build up in her heart. "Is something bothering you?" 'Well, there's something bothering me, but let's just forget about it at least for now…'

"I… am just thinking about something." He explained. A short and unclear explanation, huh?

Wait, he really was thinking about something… That probably bothered him?

"…So, what are you thinking…" Rin said casually until she knew that asking personal question to someone who isn't close to you isn't a good thing. Well, was she and Len… close? They slept under the same roof, right? "No-no! No need to tell me! I take it back!" She paused after her sort-of-rant. "But, maybe… You remember something?"

"Ah, that's…" He hesitated to tell, but he did it anyway, "I feel… Something is strange."

"About what?" Rin's curiosity kicked her previous statement that he didn't need to tell her. There was a chance that he was thinking about that incident earlier as well.

Well, that reminded her again. Just wait until something that could make her forget come.

"Blood."

Well he—wait, _blood_?

"Um yes… Blood… The red thing that came out from your wound earlier?"

She must be saying her thought out loud. Now she wanted to slap her own face. "What's wrong with blood, anyway? You've seen it before?"

"I…" He didn't continue his words but stopping it.

"Nah stop it." Rin stopped him for real. Beside he seemed to be uncomfortable with telling her that, the sun had begun to set. "It's time to go home, right?"

* * *

Rin stared at the TV screen that kept blinking, showing some documentary show that she didn't even want to know. She didn't really want to watch TV after all, she just did it because she had nothing to do beside eating orange. The thing that was pleased was just her tongue and nothing else. Well, maybe a part of her was… pretty pleased at that moment but, she was bored—really bored. She needed to do something else beside eating orange. At the end she just ended staring at the screen blankly, alone. Well, when they arrived at home, Rin walked to the living room and Len went straight to _his_ room and didn't come out until when Rin was—you know—staring blankly. She just assumed that he was exhausted and he was sleeping at that moment—it wasn't that Rin peeked into his room, but it's just her feeling. Maybe he never goes to school before this?

Blood.

The lacking information of him made her even more curious and she even want to know about him more. But how? He didn't even know, how she supposed to know if he didn't?

Time to investigate. From what she got until now, he just appeared more-less out from nowhere and… Blood?

Something happened to him that had blood involved in it, something that made him didn't remember anything?

Knowing that her investigation will lead to pretty much, nowhere, she gave up for that moment. "I don't have a brain of a detective, really…"

Maybe not knowing that was the best. If he knows about himself, then he wouldn't be in her house right now, right?

Rin enjoyed his presence at that moment.

* * *

~~And that's it! It's longer right? Teehee~

Time to reply the reviews~

ChocoCookiePuff-san, macchi-chan-san, Ruuya ruu-chan-san, Campanella-san: Thank you very very very very much ･ω･

...what? I replied those reviews, right?


	12. Chapter 12: Gumi

~Happy (belated) birthday for Kasane Teto! (It's Saturday already in Japan—wait, why should I care? I don't even live there...)

For ChocoCookiePuff-san and Campanella-san, thank you very much!

Disclaimer: Vocaloid and the characters owned by Yamaha, CFM, Internet Co., and... Well, not me.

Well, I hope every single human being who reads this enjoys this story this far...

* * *

It was a miracle, that Neru suddenly barge into the café, then grabbing her frilly, maid uniform (yeah, hers. Meiko had prepared it for Neru) and started working like… Maybe something had gotten into her that made _the_ Akita Neru works in the frilly, embarrassing maid uniform.

Well, no one asked why, but this thing was sure, a good thing. So everyone leave her just like that.

* * *

"Well, we got today's payment…" Miku said while having some sightseeing with Neru in the afternoon after they done working. Usually Meiko paid _her_ in the afternoon after _her_ shift was over—well, that was when Neru didn't want to work in that… said outfit yet—the amount of the money wasn't categorized as little, though. And seems like Kaito is supposed to be the one who paid them, not Meiko…?

Neru nodded. She seemed to be happy from… The money.

"Neru, you seem to be… Off." Miku said suddenly, hesitating about her own words.

Neru turned to her with a big grin. "What makes me off then, Mikuu?"

Well, that's not the Neru that Miku knew. Perfect off. Then she sweatdropped, "Well… Neru, nothing. I'm just…"

"Nothing?" Neru exclaimed _happily_. The first happy Neru moment that Miku saw. "Well, I have something to show you!" With that, Neru grabbed Miku's right hand and ran as fast as she could.

Sure, it was almost… A torture for Miku, to be pulled like that and run in a incredibly fast velocity. It ended after 2 minutes, though.

"…what… do you want… to show me…?" Miku asked between her panting.

"That yellow, wonderful thing in the glass showcase!"

* * *

Later on, after asking a few people, they learnt that it called 'cellphone'. Most of the people gasped in disbelief that they didn't know what that thing is. They not sure why, but Miku thought that, that thing is already common in that place, so not knowing them is a strange thing.

Neru was already begging Miku (Akita Neru? _The_ Akita Neru? Begging? Now that was _really_ new for Miku) to buy that unknown device without any clear reason. Unluckily they didn't have enough money… At least at that moment.

"I asked once again, Miku. Why don't we _make_ the money instead of earning them? It's much easier!" Neru asked with a loud voice that could be categorized as yelling.

"That's really not good, Neru…" Miku answered with a sigh. "Beside, earning money by working… I think nothing's wrong with that, anyway… I enjoy it."

"…lucky you still managed to **enjoy** it…" Neru muttered under her breath. However, Miku's word seems to be not affecting her at all. "Well, whatever, I'll make the money by myself…" Neru said and began to perform some unknown magic to make… Money.

However, her magic didn't want to work. Of course she didn't get anything from the failed 'experiment'. After that, she felt a dark aura from her back.

It was Miku who was grinning darkly. "You know this already right, Neru? That my magic is stronger than yours…"

Neru, realized what happened just giving a short comment, "No way."

"_Yes way_, Akita Neru. I locked your ability to use it!" At the end of that, Miku added an evil laughter. Neru just didn't know what was _wrong_ with Miku, but after that Miku was back to her usual, cheery self who had the heart of an angel. "So then you'll work harder at the café! You still have to pay Meiko-san!"

Neru just nodded with a strange expression plastered on her face, "Yeah, yeah… Working and pay that brunette and phone… I understand…"

They were forgetting something, weren't they?

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

A week went normally for Rin and Len. Well, Len had taken Rin's sort-of-usual-routine of preparing food, anyway, he was a good cook—well, better than Rin. Much better. No more bloody accident anymore. For their routines… Well, waking up in the morning and go to the school much early—even at the second day, when waking Len up was a really, _really_ hard thing for Rin to do, they still came to the school early, like, 6 in the morning. Then they just do nothing in the empty classroom. That was until Teto came to the class. So Rin changed her activity from 'only sitting, breathing, blinking and living' to 'chatting' with Teto. They stopped chatting when the teacher came into the class. After doing this and that activity of learning at the school, they finally could get home.

At home, Rin just sat at the couch with orange on her right or left hand, while at the same time, sound of piano being played was heard.

Sometimes, she even wonder, how could he play the piano _that_ good when he didn't even know what that thing is at the first time he played it? Miracle.

Then when the sky was dark already, they would have dinner, the two of them on the dining table with some good, tasting food. And after that, Rin would force Len to do his homework when she didn't even do her own.

That was for the sake of getting trouble—detention! On the next day, Rin would copy his work **in front of the teacher**. Unluckily, the teacher seemed to be not care about that and didn't give Rin any detention. Yeah, _unlucky_ Rin, when the other would be really grateful when something like that happened to them.

That's the usual routines of the Kagamines.

Usual routines…

For that moment, weekend had come, and both of them were doing something… Whatever they want in _their_ house. Len was reading a book—God knows what and Rin… Her weekend was the same as her usual routine, holding and orange while browsing on the TV for something that she could watch.

Why Rin still managed to live with that… routines, anyway?

Rin just shook her head that stood for 'not knowing what's the reason' as a reply to her own thought. Just when she did this, the doorbell rang, rather loudly.

Rin, being lazy as usual—there, Rin was lazy. Why she still didn't get any detention from being lazy, as well at the school?—just called up to her 'brother'. "Len-kun, the door."

That didn't even sound like… Asking for help at all. However, the _smart_ Kagamine Len just left his book and walked away to open the door.

* * *

"I don't know why, leaving this place for about 5 years seems to be right and wrong at the same time…"

A girl, about 15, was walking out from a plane along with her family. Her dark green eyes were shining brightly despite the color. The goggle on her head—which had a color of some-sort-of red—also reflecting the sunshine as well.

"5 years and I told them that I was going to go for a… holiday…" She continued to spoke to herself.

A boy who looked like her—only older than her—stroked her short green hair, "Then why did you say 'holiday' then, Gumi?"

The girl, known as Gumi, turned to her brother with a pout, "I-I thought it wasn't going to be that long, Miya!"

Their mother giggled a bit, seeing her children, "Well, let's hurry to go home and Gumi-chan, apologize as fast as you can."

Gumi turned to her mother with a smile, "Well, as fast as I can, it could means **now**, so excuse me!"

With a goodbye wink, Nakajima Gumi just left her family at the airport and headed to her friends' houses.

* * *

Gumi looked at her surroundings with her goggles which now covering her eyes. "Where to go first…?" She asked herself.

She walked alone in the middle of a small street in the middle of a small town after taking some buses from the airport. She used to live there, in the small town since she was born until when she was 7. Her friends also live there, that was the thing that made them became a really close friends.

Her previously not stopping from walking feet suddenly halted when her eyes met something. A small, flower garden that reminded her of something.

"Well, that means that I'll go to see Rin first."

Rin's house wasn't that far from the small flower garden, actually it was pretty close. Gumi arrived there just about 10 minutes from the garden. That was close, right?

She was going to ring the bell using the existing button, but hesitated a bit. She had left for **5 years** for a **holiday** and not telling where to her? That was bad. She just not sure that Rin would treat her the same again…

From the gut out from nowhere, Gumi had pressed the button, making a bell sound rang twice. Nervous began to build up in her.

The door was opened, Gumi could felt that her heartbeat became faster. The one who open the door must be Rin, since she live alone. And what will she say when seeing her?

Gumi had expected to see a girl with blond, golden hair with a white bow on top of that, but she saw no bow on the person.

'Eh…?'

* * *

None of them say a thing after their eyes met to each others. Well, what do you want to say when you saw a girl with green, really **green** hair with a red goggle was standing at the other side of your door? And what do you want to say when you saw a _boy_ with blond, messy hair that not supposed to be there? You won't say anything before that other person speaks first.

The greenette broke the awkward silence first with a surprised exclaim, "Rin, what are you doing with that hairstyle?"

The _boy_ was taken aback with that word, _he_ took a step back, "Wa-wait, I am not Rin…"

The green girl now realized that that 'Rin' wasn't 'Rin' from his voice. Yes, it was indeed a boy's voice. While the previously thought as 'Rin' was looking to his back to find someone, "Er, Rin-san? Someone is here for you…"

The green girl heard some loud and fast footsteps from inside the house. Within seconds, she was glomped by someone.

"Gumiiiii—! I didn't think that you'll come~!"

Gumi knew that voice really much, "Hey Rin, I miss you really much as well…"

Rin released her glomp and now was standing straight. Her white bow was messed up a bit. "Well, get in and tell your stories!"

* * *

Len was back to his book. With no loud, random voice from either Rin or the TV with the channel changed every 0.5 second.

In peace, finally.

* * *

"Sorry I didn't tell this earlier, Rin." Gumi said, regret was printed on her face clearly.

"No need to apologize!" Rin exclaimed happily. What made her so happy, after all? "I understand your problem of… Not telling me or Teto!"

"Yeah, Teto-chan! How's she?"

"Still bread-scarfing like usual…" Rin smiled. Finally her long awaited friend came back to her life. She loved being with her friend again really much. Unfortunately, that made her realized that she was always having a lonely life.

'_But you feel lonely._'

Gumi realized that Rin was wandering around in her own wonderland, so she waved her hand in front of Rin's face. "Rin? Are you still there?"

Rin responded fast to this, "Of course I'm here!"

Silence filled the room.

Gumi shifted a bit, feeling a bit uncomfortable—not with the couch or something, the couch is overly comfy—with the silence. She decided that it was the right time to ask Rin about… Something, "Hey Rin, did something big happened when I'm gone?"

Rin rubbed her head, almost ruining her white bow, "Well, nothing much, really. Though I'm still looking for _it_."

Gumi made a strange face hearing that, "You still… Trying to get into the trouble or making a trouble?"

"Of course!" Rin replied with her biggest smile which doesn't fit the words at all.

Gumi sighed, "The old Rin just doesn't change…"

Rin giggled, "I just won't change even until I am old…"

"…that sounded a bit strange, don't you think?" Gumi commented with a giggle.

"It does." Rin continued her giggle.

Suddenly Gumi stopped her giggle because something was really bothering her mind at that moment. "Seriously Rin, nothing big happened when I'm gone?"

"Nothing, really… It was just me who tried to you know what…" Rin explained. "Let me tell you that the worst thing I've done is showed my middle finger to the teacher…"

Gumi froze. She knew it already that Rin was the only one who could say that easily.

"…and it didn't even work. Maybe I should really middle-fingering **him**…" Rin continued to say the not supposed to be said by a good 15 years old girl easily.

Giving Gumi enough chill. Does that mean that Rin was going to… Do that? She had to stop Rin before she does!

Though that didn't cure the curiosity of…

"Rin, I want to ask you something."

"Proceed." Rin answered with her usual, bright face without any guilt from what she had said before, about f***ing her **male** teacher…

"Who's your look-alike boy that opened the door for me earlier?" Yes. She finally asked her.

"Ah yes, that something is a big thing that happened recently…" Rin replied with a nonsense grammar. "My long separated brother, Len… Why did you ask? Oh, I haven't told you about this, right? Well, that's my brother, Len." Rin just repeated her words without noticing it, Gumi noticed it, though. After all, the 'kind of language that Rin used' was already… Abstract. Well, she answered her own question… "He lived somewhere—I don't know and we're finally reunited. Cool, isn't it?" Rin continued her explanation though the result was… Not good.

Gumi just didn't say anything after that. She was like, frozen in silence.

After that, she stood up in a rush, "I-I think it's enough for now, I still have to visit Teto…"

"You're leaving already?" Rin asked, slightly confused with her sudden action.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll attend the same school as yours…" Gumi said fast. She headed to the door, saying a quick goodbye and shut the door off.

"What… was that?" Rin was just left dumbfounded there. "Or maybe she **does** found out that Len isn't my brother… Ah well… Like it's a wrong thing that I keep a clueless boy here… Like, what do you want to say when I kept a stray cat into my house? It's not your business, right…?"

So, Rin was referring him as a stray boy and he was her pet after she kept him… Like that.

Len just happened to heard that.

He decided to keep silent.

* * *

Omake

* * *

"Teto, I hope you can stop her… I mean, 5 years and she hadn't even tried to stop even once…" Gumi explained with a pleading look.

Teto make a strange face seeing her friend putting that kind of facial expression, "Well, looks like Rin-chan had told you something…"

"She did." Gumi's eyes widen a bit, showing seriousness, "She said that she wants to do… Erm, **that** to a male teacher…"

Teto didn't give any comment after that but thinking of something, "Well Gumi, she had… Show her middle finger to a certain teacher but **he** thought that Rin-chan is just kidding or joking around… So he just giggled at her. Maybe she thinks that doing the real thing will make her get a detention or even worse…"

"That's a _better_ thing for Rin, I assume. But then, seriously, **f***ing** a teacher?" Gumi exclaimed loudly.

Teto laughed while a huge, Anime style sweat drop was visible and falling from her head, "Well, that's Rin-chan for you…"

Meanwhile, a sneeze could be heard from a certain teacher's house.

* * *

~For Gumi's last name, I take it from her voice provider's name... Nakajima Megumi (and I think everyone knows that). I have no idea! Well, byee ･ω･


	13. Chapter 13: Gift

~~Disc: Don't own.

* * *

"Yellow thing here I come—!"

* * *

Chapter 13

* * *

It was summer.

Summer was finally there.

So, the three of them—Rin, Teto and Gumi was discussing about something on Gumi's desk. Lucky them to be in the same class.

"So, what are we going to do?" Rin asked, tilting her head a bit, making her white bow flutter a bit.

"Well, how about shopping?" Gumi asked excitedly, she want to do this, definitely.

Teto gave her a disagreeing face, "It could be done anytime?"

"I know you want to go to the beach," Gumi said, facing Teto, "But hello, it will be crowded!"

"Gumi's right!" Rin agreed, pumping her fist to the invisible air.

"You just too lazy to go there…" Teto muttered to herself. "Well, I agree now, nothing's wrong with go for a shop, beside I can go to the beach by myself…"

"Awww, Teto-chan, you shouldn't! I'll come along!" Gumi patted Teto's head.

All eyes landed on Rin.

"Erm, just go. Two of you. I'm not interested."

"NOOOO!" Both Gumi and Teto exclaimed.

"You have to go as well, Rin-chan!" Teto said.

Rin thought about it for a while, then her face lit up—Gumi swore that she saw a shining lamp appeared there, "Well, maybe I could drown someone to the sea and then I'll get a trouble!"

Gumi and Teto just halted in their current position.

'Rin never changes…'

"But!" Suddenly Rin pulled her index finger out, "Some conditions,"

* * *

Before they know it, weekend had come, again.

And at that time, Gumi and Teto were waiting for Rin in front of the small flower garden.

They didn't have to wait for a long time until they heard some kind of debate between a girl and a boy from their right.

"…I don't want to go…"

"You **have** to go! You know that you being here make my life worsen!"

"Then you don't need me at all."

"I **need you** to make me miserable!"

"I still don't understand…"

Gumi recognized those voices very well. They were…

"Why don't you say it earlier that you don't want to go?"

"B-but you just force me to change and pull me, how did I suppose to refuse?"

"No more complaints and here we are…" The girl's voice trailed off seeing a goggled girl and a drilled girl were there, right in front of the garden. "Ah, Gumi, Teto-chan! Sorry I make you wait!"

There the girl was, Kagamine Rin. _On her hand_ was her male sibling. Despite of her cheery greeting, she got strange looks in exchange.

Rin just gave a smile in return, "Seems like you heard the debate, you know, I kinda playing with him…"

A person spoke, 3 people shocked.

'…I've figured that…'

'So she **was playing** with him? How could she do that?'

'…so she was toying me…'

"Well, I just can't leave him inaudible… Like that." She continued, unsure with her vocabulary. "So, let's get going…"

Rin's conditions. One, go shopping—they could go to the beach later. Two, she could bring Len with her—maybe something would happen.

Well, maybe…

* * *

After they go to an accessories shop, bookstore, smoothie bar, clothing shop, supermarket (yeah, supermarket. Oranges, bread and carrots), clothing shop again, fast-food restaurant, and many more, Rin pulled Teto to show her something. "Teto-chan, I want to show something to you soooo badly!"

"I know I know, just pull me…" Teto sounded exhausted but not struggling to get away. Their feet already sore by walking around like that with less than 5 bags in their hands—means that they just sightseeing, but the plan was shopping. And strangely, after that Rin just still had more energy to pull Teto here and there.

Leaving Gumi behind.

Gumi thought even after five years, Rin still want to befriend her. And Gumi decided to ask them to go shopping because she wanted to spend more time with her friends. But what she got was her being left behind, while those two walking her and there happily.

Is it still the same—their friendship? She thought no. Five years is more than enough for people to change.

It hurts.

* * *

It was Rin who _forced_ Len to go shopping at the first time (even added with some-sort of drama), but seems like it wasn't like that anymore.

Instead of pulling him around like what happened at the last time they go shopping, she kept on pulling Teto.

Then, how about the green haired girl? Well, he noticed that she looked rather… down. Was she sad because Rin and Teto left her just like that? After all, she was the one who asked them to go shopping, right? Then why Rin and Teto left her?  
It must be hurt to be left alone just like that.

And at that moment, Teto and Rin had vanished to nowhere, leaving the two of them in the silence, though the green-haired girl didn't seem to notice his existence there.

Nothing's going to hurt to speak, right?

"…hello."

* * *

Gumi heard that someone was saying 'hello', but who? She thought she was alone after Rin and Teto left her. Maybe a salesman who wanted to give samples? But why he said 'hello' just to give sample, then?

Wait, it was four of them who go shopping. Her, Teto, Rin… and Rin's brother.

She turned back and spotted him right behind her.

Well, she had been avoiding him for a straight 5 days since she joined the school, would she avoid him again like _usual_? She could go away whenever she wanted to. But something told her that she didn't need to avoid him at all, there are many look-alike in the earth, anyway…

After all, that voice sounded heart-broken. She just couldn't ignore him just like that.

"…yes?" She answered slowly.

After that, she could hear his sigh clearly. Why did he sigh, anyway?

"…why did you say hello to me?" She asked, still slowly. That scared feeling just wouldn't disappear that fast.

"E-eh…" There. Gumi knew it. He was nervous **just** because of being with her. "You're… Eh, I need to say something because it's really awkward…"

That was his reason saying hello? Seriously? Was he really a coward boy?

"Well, it is. Awkward." She repeated the information she just got from him.

No one said anything after that. Then a sudden voice startled her.

"You look lonely."

She widened her eyes in disbelief hearing his statement. Sure, she was really-really lonely because her friends just ignored her and left her. But what was bothering her mind was, how did he know?

Before she knew it, she felt herself was holding back her tears from falling out from her eyes. No, she wouldn't cry at that place.

"A-are you okay?" She heard a voice-full-of-concern from her back.

Oh yeah, she was backing him. Now what she really had to do was to stop crying. That thing went successful and she turned to him a minute later with a fake smile on her face.

"I'm really fine!" She _smiled_. She had to keep smiling in front of him. She just didn't want to make him worried. Why then? Maybe because he understand her? Seriously, her brother wasn't even like **that** kind.

Maybe they could spend time together? They had nothing to do after all. And nothing was wrong with that.

All her fear disappeared instantly and her right hand moved to grab his left hand.

"Let's go somewhere!"

* * *

It was strange. Really strange.

No one ever hold his hand (except Rin), pull him (except Rin), and smiled to him (again, except Rin).

Len just felt strange that a green haired girl who he met in front of his house (Rin's house, actually. Seriously, he didn't even know how he got there) with red—once again, **red**—goggles and mistaking him for Rin…

That Kasane girl didn't even comment about anything with his… Existence as Rin's brother who looked scarily like her. Ah, that wasn't that important for that moment…

Back to Gumi, she pulled him to he-didn't-know-where. Well, he couldn't do anything to stop her or to break free from her tight grip. And actually, what was wrong with that girl? She looked sad and lonely and… despaired just a few minutes ago and now? She pulled him with a _smile_. Not a small one, a **huge** smile.

Maybe saying hello wasn't that good from the beginning?

* * *

"The town is pretty crowded now, eh…?" Gumi commented. "It wasn't like this before I go on… holiday."

"So, when you came… You just get back from your… Uh, holiday?" Len asked, though it didn't sound like a question. His way of talking was still monotone and that could be clarified as bad.

"Yeah, you can guess it from Rin almost killing me there…" Gumi giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

Gumi knew that Len had become more talkative from before. So she was a good person who could befriend anyone less than an hour? Well, good for her to know that. "The two of you was a good friend, then?"

Strangely, Gumi found herself giggled at his way of talking. Her giggle disappeared into nothing as she heard a cheerful voice directed to her—no, _them_.

"Come here come here!" Both of them turned their head just to found a girl with a megaphone on her hand, currently standing behind a small stand.

That wasn't the strangest part, because Gumi could see it with her own eyes, that the red-haired girl with an ahoge on top of her head was wearing a **Santa costume** _in the summer_.

Seeing Gumi hung her mouth, she knew that she had caught their attention, "Yes! The two of you! The yellow-green couple!" She yelled again.

Then Gumi _just_ realized that she was holding Len's hand. She quickly stepped a step further from him, releasing the grip while giving the random yelling girl a 'we're not a couple' look.

The red-haired girl yelled again, yet still cheerily, "Want to try? Miki Miki is sure, going to give you presents!"

* * *

"Well, now you know it…" The girl, apparently with the name 'Miki', said after explaining.

Gumi looked at the gift list once more, skimming the names of gifts that being listed. Tissue, tissue, tissue…

"Why there are so many tissues?" Gumi asked when she noticed that the word 'tissue' was listed more than once and there were like, _twenty_ of them.

Miki blinked twice, then replied, "I can put whatever I want, you know. But don't be displeased, there are many more prizes!" Then she pointed to the bottom of the _long_ list that was filled with nearly tissues.

_Main prize: Cellphone_

Gumi thought before she said something to Miki. Right, she needed a new one because his brother just recently _sliced_ her phone with a knife. How? He was cooking (something carrot-related), then Gumi tapped his shoulder while holding her phone. Then he turned to her and sliced her phone _accidentally_, thinking she was someone else. She had no idea how the knife could be that sharp but whatever…

"So the first prize is a cellphone?" Gumi asked.

"Exactly!" Miki exclaimed, "Want to try?"

"Uh, sure…" Gumi said, taking some money from her bag, then handed it to the girl.

"Right, here it is!" Miki said as she took something from under the counter, then back with a bunch of paper strips in her hand, the lower part of the paper were covered with her gloved hand. There were probably 50 strips of it.

Gumi had her mouth hung open again, "Are you sure there are some gold colored paper strips between _that_?"

"I am 1000% sure there _is_," Miki smiled.

Then Gumi pulled one paper strip from Miki's hand, she looked at the lower part and saw gray.

"Tissue," Miki said, as she handed a pack of tissue to Gumi, "You know, you got tissue because of the color, gray. It's dull, right? That means the price isn't that valuable…" She explained, more-less unnecessary, "But sure, you get your second and third chance!"

Gumi took her second and third paper strips, but she got the same color, gray.

"You know, the probability to get a gold strip is 1:25," Miki randomly said, "And the number of stripes is 50, if you're wondering…"

"Well, I'm unlucky for now, eh…" Gumi muttered to herself while taking the pack of tissues from the counter.

Gumi was going to leave the counter when Miki yelled—_again_, "And the boy there, are you going to try?" Then Gumi turned around and spotted Len (who was forgotten there, she felt sorry for him), still standing at the same exact spot.

He looked at Miki, then to Gumi, back at Miki, turned to Gumi before facing Miki and give the answer, "Ah, sure,"

Miki set her hand like what she did previously, then Len pulled out a strip of paper.

Gumi just didn't want to see it, she thought he will face the same fate as her, getting a gray strip. But at the end, she looked at the stall.

"Blue!" Miki said (but it was more 'yelling' than 'saying'), "That's a bunny for you!" Then she shoved a bunny plush into Len's arm, then continuing the lottery-taking, "Pick the second one!"

'Well, he got a plush there, maybe he's luckier than me…' Gumi thought, getting interesting in watching the 'scene'.

"I see a gold colored strip there, congratulations!" Miki suddenly said while clapping. "You got a phone,"

'Eh…?' Gumi thought in disbelief. He got a phone… That easy? But the strangest part was, Miki said that like it was obvious already that he would get the phone.

"May I ask something?" Gumi asked.

"Oh sure, green-girl!" Miki said.

"Um, actually… How often people get gold strip?"

Miki looked at Gumi curiously, then answered her question, "Well, this is the first time in a week, you know…"

"Oh…"

Gumi averted her gaze to somewhere else for a minute, then back to Miki and Len. And now Miki was grinning like crazy.

"Green-haired-girl-san, I would like to take my words before," Miki spoke.

Gumi raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"This is the first time someone gets two gold strips in a row! Another phone!"

Strangely, no one said anything after that.

* * *

The dark green-colored flip-phone was on her hand, glimmering because of the glittery color that reflected the bright sun's shine.

Her eyes were bright as well, if anyone see it. A new phone. Of course, a new phone, completely free of charge from a random person who was walking next to her. Well, not really random, but…

"Are you really really giving it to me?" She asked for the umph-teenth time.

"I… Really…" He answered the same question again. And again. Though the answer was different for each 'are you really giving it to me?' "I only need one…"

"Th-thank you sooooooo much!" She finally said after asking 12 times. "But are you really sure?" Her tone changed. Realizing she did it again (asking), she quickly cover it, "Never mind. One more time, thank you so much. I never got something like this even from my friend…"

"But you said that you need it… So I give it to you…" He tightened his grip (or _hug_) to the fluffy white bunny that had been there on his arm for a while. The bunny's ears flopped a bit while he did this.

"Oh, yes I did…" She took a glance on him. Golden (really golden? Or yellow? Well, she thought it was more to gold) colored hair in the usual ponytail, sea-green somewhat half opened eyes (he had always been looking like that), white shirt under blue jacket (and somehow it looked nice on him), brown shorts (with some pockets) and sneakers (a white one), and an additional fluffy bunny plush on his arm. She had to admit it, he looked **cute**.

"But…" He suddenly looked at her direction, making her looked away unintentionally, "…for what is this thing?"

Gumi turned her head to him, didn't care anymore whether her eyes met his or not, really didn't care. What was on her head was just, 'What did he just…'

"What did you just said?"

"The function of this 'phone'." No. he wasn't playing or joking with her, he really asking her because he… didn't… know…

"You… don't know?" Gumi asked in disbelief. Of course, who don't know what a phone is?

He shook his head quietly for the answer.

"Really?" Of course, who would believe that? This is the 21st century!

"I… do… not know." He said it slowly but straightly as if that was _just_ the matter of fact. Wait, that was the **fact**, right? Was he saying the wrong thing? He thought no. He didn't know. That was the truth.

"Erm, how should I put this…" Gumi thought for a moment to find a good way to explain what a phone is to Len. She got a way to tell him, but it was nothing 'good'. "Yah, well… A phone is for communicating."

"Human can communicate by talking." He stated robotically. He wasn't a robot, right?

"Eh, this is an easier way to do it, when you're far away… You can call your… Friend or family using the phone—you talked to them via the phone, though you can also do that using a telephone, but cellphones have something that a telephone doesn't—the ability to send and receive short messages… And phone is… mobile, yeah. So that's why… Mobile phone… Like that, more-less…" Gumi explained with her **best** way.

But from his facial expression, it said 'I do not understand'.

She sighed, "…I'll show you how." After saying that, she took his phone from his pocket (yeah, right). Pressing the button here and there while explaining a bit, then pulled her own phone to show something and that just go on.

"Uh, you can try it yourself, you know." She said, handing back his phone while scrolling her new phone's contacts that was already… Kind of full at that moment. "Try to text Rin, maybe?"

Strangely, she saw him flinching at Rin's name, or it's just her imagination?

"No." He answered quickly.

Well, something was… Surely strange there. Maybe because the previous incident? Was he still mad at her?

"I'll send her contact in case you need it, not now though…" Gumi said, eyes back to the phone screen. "About Rin," She started, finger pressing some button on her phone, "She's… Like that."  
"I know it." He said seriously.

Well, who knows that he could be serious?

"Know what?" She asked his statement.

"Her actual… personality."

"…am I missing something here?" Gumi asked. Rin had been nice to her from the beginning until now but did something happen when she was gone?

He shook his head, accidentally flapping the bunny's ears, "Nothing. Let's go somewhere else… I don't want to go _home_ for now…"

She grinned, "Same here, I still have something to show you and you really will like it…"

* * *

They were looking at a small alley between huge buildings. Well, both of them had that strange-looking-facial-expression seeing the pretty much, small building from the small alley.

Gumi had her mouth slightly open, gaping at the building from the small alley. The alley was really small, only one person could walk through that alley at the same time. "…it wasn't this… sad about 6 years ago…" She was probably commenting the location of the café-look-alike. But the café itself wasn't that bad, it was actually cute with pastel color and a sign that read as 'Rainbow Ice' with a bubbly letter also in pastel color.

So, Gumi want to show him a café… Or the alley?

"…maybe they renovated it… or someone took over the café and changed it?" She continued wandering. "Ah, I better take a good care of these feet and throat. Let's go inside."

Inside the café, everything was colored mainly white and the rest is… Colorful pastel color. Several pastel colored comfortable-looking sofas were being set here and there, complete with a white table between the two face-to-face sofas. Even the floor, white and pastel color. Every girl would really love to go in there.

As soon as the set their selves to the comfortable sofa (so it was not just comfortable-looking), a waitress with a frilly maid-costume came holding a menu. That was when they discovered that the menu was colorful as well. Most of them were ice cream. Judging from the name of the café, that must be true. Other than ice cream were drinks. The ice cream menu itself… Was a kind of strange. They had ice (an **ice** flavored ice cream, for God's sake! It'll be flavor-less!), cheese, and **pizza**, and many **more** strangely flavored ice cream. To add the strange already menu, vegetable flavored ice cream was full on the list. Just to make it worse, there was a **black** colored ice cream as well. Well, just guess what the taste will be…

Of course, no one will think that there's a cute café that was hiding between two huge buildings. And no one will think that a cute and adorable café sells many life-threatening ice creams.

Seeing a carrot flavored ice cream, Gumi ordered it without a second thinking of maybe they put in some poison in the ice cream. A Gumi just couldn't and wouldn't resist that orange-y vegetable named carrot. They're just… Good. Her brother usually scolds her because of her liking of carrot but then, what does he like? The same, carrot. Well, her brother was being unreasonable.

Len wasn't as clueless as anybody would think, he knew that the odd colored ice cream was absolutely inedible. Rin made those strange colored food pretty… often and always told him to not eat it because it maybe poisoned by accident… That was what she said. She said it easily, anyway. Ah, back to the menu. The banana flavored one looked tasty and banana itself was good (in his opinion, at least)… Well, that reminded him of that 'The Reason why Kagamine Rin chose a Banana Smoothie for Kagamine Len'.

Rin. She was never serious with him—maybe not just with him, maybe with everyone. Rin was that kind of person, a girl who plays with anything. He realized that she was just 'playing' with him since the beginning—well, since she found him **in** her house. Since that day.

So, before even meeting (_finding_) him, she was like that to… Everyone?

"Kagamine, you're not choosing anything." Gumi's voice just made his thought shatter in instance. Oh yes, the ice cream.

"Water…" He said, but sounded awkwardly like a mutter.

"…you were taking a long time to choose and came up with water as the answer?" Gumi asked, not believing her ears.

The waitress had taken it as the order, so she left already from the table, leaving the dating-couple-look-alike.

It didn't take a long time for the order to come—preparing ice cream and **water** won't be long wherever you order it, anyway. Gumi had interest in her eyes as the orange-colored ice cream was moved from the tray to in front of her. The color of the ice cream was bright orange, as bright as a real carrot. Nothing was wrong from it (at least Gumi thought like that). She took a lick on it and it taste d strangely good, so she just ate it up until the cup was empty. What Len was doing at that moment was just drinking his water silently while giving some weird stare to Gumi. That orange-suspicious-colored ice cream was actually edible?

Just when she gulped the last ice cream, her phone vibrated and she opened it cautiously like it was going to explode if she opened it harshly. Her somewhat panicked face because of the previous thought that her parent knew that she was out and threaten her to come home changed into an annoyed one once she saw the sender ID. It was just her brother. Who asked her to come home because their parents asked him to ask her. Don't tell her that her parents were asked by the God—if that really happens, then she would be really _home_, or dead.

So her brother just asked her to get home. Great.

She flipped her phone close and faced the person in front of her. "Seems like I have to go now because my brother is asking me to do so." She began to pack her belonging (her belonging? A bag with carrot candies—the source was unknown—and her wallet. Her phone was being held so it wasn't in there, right?) and ready to get away. Before she left, she turned to Len again. "Well, thanks for the phone to the ice cream…" She trailed off but continued it instantly, "Thank you for cheering me up today!"

He had cheered her up? Well, that was an unnoticed thing he had done, then…

"No, you cheered me up." He replied truthfully. It was true, if Gumi wasn't there, who knows? Maybe he was sulking at the corner—wait, he wouldn't do that.

"So both of us do!" She said in a happy tone. Her smiled turned to a mysterious one, "You really remind me of my old friend…" With that she left the café. The last part was strange…

Wait, she asked him to pay the ice cream indirectly, right?

* * *

He was staring at the phone screen blankly. A blank message directed to Rin was displayed on the screen. He really didn't want to go 'home', as he would meet Rin if he do that. But he just couldn't leave her like that, as she will go to find him and she found him and there! They met each other.

No, he wanted to get away from Rin, knowing the real Rin was like. At least for a while, he needed a break from being played. Today was more than enough. From the force to the drama and ended up with the ignorance. Enough.

Why did he felt like that? Hurt from being ignored by someone? Why did it hurt, anyway? There was no wound or anything similar, but it just… hurt. Rin just ignored him (and no, she didn't, she _just_ left him behind) anyway. Nothing was wrong with that, really. His heart didn't agree with that, though. Instead, it made a strange feeling inside of him.

Maybe he shouldn't try to understand it. It just spins around his head, making everything hundred times worse.

A sudden unknown voice was more than enough to startle his 'thinking' state, "Hello there."

He looked up to see a person—a woman with red top and a matching red short skirt, her matching-with-her-locks brown eyes looking down at him, "Hello." He said, greeting back.

She positioned herself in front of him, the place Gumi was sit on previously. "You're telling me that you're troubled from your face." She stated. Wait, she was looking at—seeing him?

Talking about personal thing with a stranger will never be comfortable, so he just looked away and mumbled, "Nothing."

"There's a thing." She said. It's really impolite to go into a random person's problem! "I'm not asking you, though. But maybe something will make you better like… Ice cream?"

She continued before he could even comment that he wasn't in mood to eat that sweet and cold thingy, "Free of charge. You don't need to pay."

"No need to do so." He replied as polite as he could.

"Come on, a sad and troubled customer will make our unnoticeable reputation went even lower!" She said like she was saying the truth.

"You are the owner of this café?" He asked. If her answer is yes, he just have to compliment about the café and reassure that he was fine then pay and get out from that café as fast as he could, it wasn't that hard.

"No, my friend does." She answered. So that was the truth… "Since I have no privilege to know your problem and seems like you're not in mood to eat our tasty flavored ice cream—they might looked inedible, but you'll realize that it's actually edible—even more than just edible—when you eat it, I'm sure of that." She paused, realizing that she was promoting the ice instead of saying the thing that she supposed to say, "Well, you can always try the ice cream later, but maybe you need something like a job? You could get a filthy amount of delicious money just from working here! We have just about 7 people in here including me. Interested?"

There, weird offering. It was really weird or it was just him who thought like that?

"The shift is on 15, after school—of course I know that you go to school—so nothing is going to be missed, right?" She continued.

What? There was no plan of him getting a job at all. He didn't need any money for now.

After school. Usually he would be home, doing almost nothing with Rin.

With Rin.

No way.

"I will… Think about it." He said. The woman squealed in joy hearing that. A woman squealed? That was rare.

"I will really tell my friend that someone's going to think over this job!" She still squealed in joy when she said this. "Tomorrow! You have to tell me tomorrow!"

"O-of course…" He said while sweat-dropping.

"I'll close the café now, just left the food—drink there and you don't have to pay. Free of charge."

He just didn't understand that person at all… Well, she was being nice to him, right? "Thank you." He walked to the door, having a strange feeling that she would _kill_ him if he didn't leave that place at that time.

"My name's Sakine Meiko, anyway," She said, gesturing him to leave as fast as he can. "You can tell yours tomorrow. It's okay if you don't want to, but I think I'll know it anyway…" With that the door closed.

* * *

Setting her bag on her desk, she could hear her phone vibrated.

_From unknown:_

_"Will come home late. Don't wait for me"_

"…what?"

* * *

~~LONG. Because I can't cut the Gumi-Len epicness *shot* I even think that this chapter is over-sized (for this story)... And this story is too predictable, I guess...

Erm... Erm, I don't know what to say... Anyway, I found the summary annoying... I've changed it but still, nothing better!

For Campanella-san... I... Am glad that you like this story! Your reviews make me really happy ･ω･

Anyone who pressed that review button must be a really kind person...

*^%)$#(%%$#{:%$)*%)&*)(_%}:"[.

I am just simply stressed right now...


	14. Chapter 14: Separateness

~~Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

"Miku, I just learnt that phones had applications in it." Neru said from nowhere.

"And…?" Miku answered half-heartedly, she continued sipping on her green onion flavored drink that she got from her experiment of blending that green-white vegetable in the blender. Who knows that the result would turn out so good? Well, for her, it was good.

"Maybe I could make one." Neru said straightly like it was nothing.

And for Miku, it was nothing as she took another gulp of the strange but delicious vegetable juice. The juice will finish in one more gulp. She thought about making another one. "For what?"

"To summarize it, let's just say that I want to get back after I got the phone, but the annoying and troublesome task is still not done. So, making something to track Len down would be good. So let's name it 'the annoying Len tracker'."

Miku spitted the last gulp of juice, successfully wetting her teal-colored t-shirt. "What… the hell is that 'annoying Len tracker'…?"

"As I said it, annoying. Anyway, who wouldn't be annoyed when a single person missing and a person who wasn't even involved is forced to find that person…"

"Neru, you're involved." Miku said straightly.

"Nah, I'm not. By the way, I noticed that you started to be used to call his strange name like… Len-Len."

Miku widened her eyes, realizing her fault. "Th-that's the name you said!"

Neru eyed Miku with annoyed look, "You got it. It's the name. Why no one allow me to say the name. Hey, it's the name! Nothing's wrong with that!"

"It's wrong!"

"Not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"SHUT UP THE TWO OF YOU!" Suddenly Meiko roared from inside the café, "I'm giving you two a break and you're shouting to each other? All the waiter and waitress and the cashier are working hardly and you are shouting hardly? Come on, respect the other!"

"Sorry…" Miku muttered an apology while bowing, pushing Neru to bow with her. Miku knew that behind the devil horn (oh, she'll be so dead if Meiko know this), Meiko was a good person. Miku noticed something strange. Usually Meiko was out at that time, from 2-4 pm. But the reality was, she was there. "Meiko-san… You usually out at this hour…" Miku commented.

"Well," Meiko grinned, "You do care about me! Thanks a lot! If you were a boy, I'll prefer you over Kaito!" Returning to her usual self, she spoke, "I'm waiting for someone, you know…"

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

Since receiving the message the night before, Rin noticed that something was indeed, strange on that day.

When she woke up, she found out that she was alone in her house. No Len. Though he left something on the table for her. Breakfast.

On school, Gumi avoided her whenever she tried to talk to her. Strangely, she talk to Teto like nothing was going on. And the strangest part was: Gumi was talking to Len. At first she thought that her ears were failing her, but it didn't. Gumi was avoiding him like he was a plague or a ghost for… 5 days and now she was **talking** to him?

Something must be happened.

"Hey, Gumi!" Rin tried to greet her for the sixth time in that day.

And what Gumi did? Looked at her, and quickly walked away to avoid her.

Ah, wailing time.

"Teto-chan!" Rin playing hurt, spreading her arms out to hug Teto.

"Rin-chan!" Teto copied Rin's expression and hug her. "What's wrong?" at this point, she began to pat Rin's head—literally, her bow.

"Gumi doesn't want to talk to me!" Rin said the truth still with the playful hurt face.

Teto, didn't know how to cope with this just said, "She talked to me…"

Rin's eyes lit up, "Is she talking about me?"

"…No at all…" Teto said the truth.

Well, Teto and Rin were still the good kid that always tell the truth…

"So she doesn't hate me after all…" Rin said casually. "Then, what's wrong…?"

"Uh, maybe something happened?" Teto really really didn't know how to face this problem.

"Maybe…" Rin pouted, looking away. "And you know… Len-kun is avoiding me as well."

Teto froze as Rin's words reached her ears. "Something was really happened yesterday."

"Yesterday…" Rin put on her thinking pose, "We went shopping together."

"You show me an orange plush that you want really much, then you pulled me to show a road roller miniature, then you pulled me to help you to choose a new bow for you." Teto continued for her.

"Then we eat some lunch and…" Rin trailed off, "Go to a showroom to see a new road roller. Then we went to the bread shop." Noticing nothing was wrong from the 'story', she put on confused look. "Nothing was wrong."

Teto released Rin's hug, "At least for us. Nothing was wrong for us." Teto eyed Rin strangely, in her head she knew that the cause was Rin but just deciding like that isn't good… "Well, do you know what happened with _them_ yesterday?"

"I think no…" Rin said truthfully.

It hit Teto. They must be going somewhere _together_. But seemed like Rin didn't realize it. "Well… Then what you're going to do for now?"

Rin grinned, "Getting ready for the next lesson because I'm sooo going to get a detention!"

Rin was _made_ to be like that, unaware with her surrounding. Never be troubled… And was seeking for trouble.

But once a trouble stuck her, she didn't realize it at all.

* * *

"You avoided her." A soft, airy voice of a girl entered his ears. Standing up from the chair he had been sitting on, Len saw Gumi.

"I… guess I do." He replied.

Gumi smiled, "I do as well." She spun a bit, "But you're living with her, how are you going to do it?"

"I've found a way… Somehow."

Gumi was… amazed with this. Then she sat on his chair. "Well… I'm going to buy some carrot and eggplant and cabbage and leeks and… Vegetables…" Knowing that she was saying awkward things, she asked him back hurriedly, "What are you going to do?"

"…I… have to meet someone. I guess."

"Why you're guessing it…?"

"I'm not used to do something like this…"

His statement left Gumi in a thought.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, head titled to a side.

"Nothing. It's just… I think I need to go to somewhere after shopping…"

* * *

The café was strangely empty.

And he thought strange because… it was. The café was strange already from the location, the name, 'Rainbow Ice' was _strangely_ normal. And the menu? More than strange.

"There you are!" A sudden yell from the café startled him. "Hurry in!"

_Strangely_, that woman's voice carried that 'Hurry or I'll kill you!' in her voice, so he just stepped into the café.

Nothing changed from the café. Of course, nothing will change just in a day… Well, maybe something did change, but it would be really unnoticeable… The order of the couches and the table was still perfectly the same and everything was normal. Apparently that supposed-to-be-Meiko woman had gone somewhere so he just stood there near the door alone.

"Hey you yellow-haired boy! Here!" Her voice just heard from nowhere, and when he spotted her, she was standing near a door that seemed to be a door to the office.

Yellow? He always thinks it was blond or gold…

When he got there at her spot, she pushed him hardly to the room, made him almost stumbled over a… Katana? He turned back to see Meiko but she just grinned and said, "Have a good talk!" After that, she slammed the door on his face. Luckily his face wasn't harmed at all.

Inside the room, there are some couches and a desk. Someone was sitting on the chair behind the desk, on _his_ hand was a _bowl_ of ice cream.

The person's blue eyes met his green one and he sighed, somewhat in relief, "I'm glad you arrived here safely…"

"…what?"

"First, from what I've heard, you came here to give an answer to Meiko's offering, am I correct?" He pointed the ceiling with the ice cream spoon that was on his hand.

"…yes?" Len answered slowly and cautiously. **Everything** was suspicious and fishy there…

"Second, you came."

"…then?" He just didn't get where this conversation will go.

"Third, you got in because Meiko asked you to do so."

"…" Actually what was this blue haired man getting to?

"Fourth, she pushed you into this room and you're here."

"…yes but I don't think I get what you are getting to…" Len said truthfully.

"Well, for the starter, let me introduce myself as Shion Kaito." That man said, "Meiko's friend. You must be guessing, how a person like me can befriend Meiko. No one know, even myself."

No one asking that…

"And I'm congratulating you on passing Meiko—I'll dead if she hear this, though…" He continued. "She could kill you anytime… Too bad the 2 new waitress don't know about this…"

Actually what was he talking about…

"Ah, about the little business…" He brought a spoon of ice cream into his mouth. "Well, what do you think about the job? You're just going to give the order to the customer…"

"Waiter?" He asked back, though he was still unsure about his own word. Isn't a 'waiter' is the one who… well, waits?

"Exactly! You're smarter than what I've thought!" Kaito said, scooping more ice cream into his mouth. "Ah, sorry about that, guess I got the craziness virus from Meiko…"

Was that even existed…?

"Oh, yeah… I should stop eating too much ice cream…" The last part was said to himself, but Len still heard it, of course. "And that's also the reason of the 'the-most-delicious-ice-cream-ever-like' salary. I must appreciate anyone who still managed to be able to have a peaceful life through Meiko…" He looked to the ceiling, "You know what? There are waitresses who seem to be lost in America, and Meiko found them. She brought them here without _harming_ any of them, can you believe it?"

"…" Commenting wasn't a good choice at that time.

"Um, you look pretty uncomfortable there, how about make the decision?"

"O-oh, yes…" He looked up to the blue-haired man, "I accept it." Wait, wasn't the role was like, reversed?

"Good!" Kaito squealed—seriously, _squealed_? "I'll wait for you tomorrow at 3 pm~!" Regaining his sanity, he spoke in his manly tone, "You're excused now."

The best thing he should do was getting out from the room. Now he had learnt that eating too much ice cream won't be good for your health and your head…

"Wait a moment!" Kaito called out suddenly when he _almost_ turned the knob. "Whats's your name, anyway?"

Oh yes, name. They didn't talk about that before.

But he didn't really like it when people asked for _his name_. Luckily, no one does… Wait, no one _did_. That was until Kaito interfered.

…he really felt sorry for Kaito at that moment…

"Ka… Kagamine… Len?"

Kaito eyed him suspiciously, "Now you're questioning about your own name…"

"I… am not questioning it—so-sorry for that!" With that he turned back to the door and turned the knob as fast as he could. He sighed in relief when he was finally out, but he met someone else.

Sakine Meiko.

When her eyes met his, she smirked, "Well, your business with him had already finished, right? Well, now's mine…"

What was Meiko's business with Kaito? He and Kaito had talked and Kaito was telling about Meiko this and that… Was she really had a business with Kaito when their relationship was that… scary?

"I heard all of that."

She… heard that? Well, that was bad for Kaito…

Before he knew it, screams and the sounds of violence was heard from the room.

* * *

Arriving at her very-own house, Rin did her usual routine. Slacking off on the couch, eating orange. However, something was missing that day.

The sound of piano being played wasn't there. That was what was missing.

Rin buried her face on a nearby pillow, 'He just disappeared after school, not even telling me at all…'

Then a thought struck in her head, "Yeah, yesterday he texted me."

'From where he got the phone?'

'Why he texted me—wait, because he's coming late, right?'

'What's the reason?'

A sudden vibration from her yellow cellphone broke her thought. She grabbed it fast, like it was going to disappear if she didn't grip it.

From unknown:

" "

'Blank message?' Rin thought as she scanned the screen of her phone once again. That was when she realized that the sender was the same from yesterday's message. She pressed the buttons quickly, saving the contact. After that, she called the person instantly.

"Come on pick it up pick it up…"

Once she knew that she had been connected to the other person in the phone, she said—almost yelled into the phone, "Len-kun where are you?"

There was no answer from the other line. Maybe it wasn't Len?

"I'm… walking." He answered. Somehow it made Rin felt relieved.

The call ended. Less than 10 seconds.

It was strange.

Rin felt strange.

Really strange.

"What…?"

* * *

A bunch of flower was held on a hand of a girl, who had a green, silky hair. Her eyes reflected everything she felt at that time.

Lonely.

With that lonely feeling, she walked to the grave yard. Why did she felt lonely, after all? Nothing happened after all…

Once she reached the graveyard, she looked for a certain grave, then she put the fresh flowers on top of it.

"I… just realized that I miss you." She muttered to no one more than to herself. "Sorry I haven't visited you for… more than 5 years."

Then her face lit up, just a bit, "Sorry, it's me, Nakajima Gumi…"


	15. Chapter 15: Falling

~~Disclaimer: This is getting annoying so let this disclaimer applies to the rest of the story. I don't own Vocaloid or the characters.

* * *

Neru had got her phone.

_Finally_, Neru had got her phone.

Since that time, all she did was texting, texting, and texting again, almost 24/7. Except in her work, anyway who have the gut to text when you're working as for serving food? No one does. Even the Akita Neru.

Something was wrong there, Neru could be really careless, more-less to the rest of human being in the earth. But there, she was texting. Texting means caring. Who did she texts? No one really knew that. Even from where she got the contacts, no one knows that.

No one knows because it was only Miku who knew her from the beginning. And Miku really didn't care about her texting-life. She meant—Miku is—unexpectedly—a hard-worker. She stopped when her shift is over while Neru… Neru usually slacks off texting when she has some time to do that.

Miku also got a phone, but she hardly ever uses it because… It was pretty useless for her. She just bought it because Neru asked her to do so. And that's what you called a reason? Neru would ask that, but Miku will just ignore her and continue… **Working**.

Neru only saw her not working at evening, above that… No.

"I think Meiko-san will kill me if I don't work hard." She said that, but Meiko still _hadn't_ kill Neru even when she was slacking off...

Well, because of Miku's hard work and Neru's not-hard work, they could finally paid Meiko and go _back home_.

"Now you got your phone and we almost pay Meiko-san fully," Miku said in one night with her dark voice, as dark as the sky at that time, "Let's get going now."

Neru just couldn't believe her ears. Miku just said… 'Let's get going now.'? Like… Going back?

"We have to find Kagamine-sama fast. Something bad might happen if we're not fast enough…"

"And what's that bad thing?" Neru asked back. This kind of Miku is strange.

"Well, something bad!" Miku said, back in her usual-cheery voice.

Neru would never understand Miku forever…

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

It had been 4 days, more less. Four days of no one in the house except her when she wake up or when she get home. Four days of a breakfast being prepared without any notes on her dining table. Four days of silence in her house except the random sound from the TV.

Four days without piano being played.

Why it was so lonely?

'But you feel lonely.'

She didn't know why, but that words were being played inside her head again and again.

"Ah…" She stared at the empty fruit basket on the table, "Maybe I should buy some oranges…"

With that, she grabbed her orange-colored jacket and headed out in the middle of lonely afternoon.

The world seemed to like or hate her, because the sky was pretty gloomy once she set her foot outside. Even like that, she ignored the clouded sky and walked forward to the mart.

She could reach the market in 10 minutes with walking, while doing that, she thought.

Yes, Kagamine Rin was thinking while walking. Rarity? Yes. Rin was the type of person who wouldn't think about even her own action. Except for getting punished… The thought like 1001—no, _1000001_—ways to do it. But this time, she thought about herself.

First, she questioned herself why she felt lonely at that time. She never felt lonely before that, even when she had to left her friends in elementary school when she was graduated—Rin _does_ have friend, you know—, even when Gumi was leaving, even when her parents died.

'Why didn't I feel lonely at all? Maybe I'm used of that?  
If I'm used of that, why I feel lonely when I'm used of it?

Maybe something changes in my life?

I used to look for trouble, but now the number of the tries seems to be reducing… Why is that?

Or maybe, I'm troubled enough until I never realize it?'

She snapped her head up when the scene changed from the not-so-big pathway to the bright pavement. The market wasn't far away anymore.

She spent the rest of the walk thinking about nothing, it was just her hearing her own sneaker-ed foot being tapped to the pavement.

She finally reached the market when the stars began to fill in the blank space on the dark sky.

Entering the market, she smelled the scent of air-conditioner-ed room. There were just a few people there, making the scent became more smell-able. Slowly, she walked to the fruit section. The oranges were selected one-by-one, the ones that were fresh and well-shaped. Yes, well-shaped.

'Think of it, just oranges will be boring. Somehow I need more color for the fruit basket…'

She began to pick up some apples, then bananas.

'Bananas… Reminds me of Len-kun…'

After picking bananas, she went to the cashier to pay and she walked out hurriedly without taking the changes.

Then she ran. And ran. She ran just because she wanted to. She didn't even know where she ran to.

After a few minutes running, she eventually became tired and decided to sit on a nearby bench. Her right hand reached the oranges unconsciously and began to peel it up. She just realized that she was eating when the taste of the tasty orange met her tongue. Even though like that, she enjoyed the feeling of oranges pleasing her.

Then a reality hit her and she remembered that she should go home. After all, the moon was shining brightly already.

"Well, I should go home now…" She mumbled, picking her bag of fruits and walked back home.

'I'm forgetting something, right?' She thought and picked up her phone—wait, it didn't have anything with the phone…

She ended up staring at the phone blankly, foot stopped walking and all she did was practically halting there.

Knowing she had nothing to do with the phone and she pick it up already, she began to re-opening the messages while resuming walking.

She scrolled all the messages—most of them were from Teto anyway—and paused at a certain message.

From unknown:

" "

Her fingers began to move to press and type something on the phone.

To unknown:

"Sorry I'm not home, maybe you could enter the house without me being in there? –Rin"

More button pressing.

To Len:

"Sorry I'm not home, maybe you could enter the house without me being in there? –Rin"

A button pressed.

10 seconds of silence.

"…what am I doing…?"

* * *

"Seems like I _did_ make you wait…" Rin commented when she saw a _certain person_ standing in front of her house.

"I just got here…" He commented back, avoiding eye contact.

"Well…" She plugged the key into the slot and turned it. Then she turned the knob, pushing the door and stepped into the house. "The last few days you _just_ get here without me… I have no idea when you got home, anyway…"

"…I have no time-teller." Len told Rin and she knew instantly that he was talking about clock.

"…right." She said and started to head to the living room to set the fruits into the fruit basket. She did it carefully, oranges stacked beautifully, apples arranged perfectly and bananas put neatly. There was no other sounds except some ruffles from the eco-friendly bag. Rin, pleased with her good work of arranging the food, plopped herself onto the couch while sighing in some-sort of relief. Not so long after that, Len joined her on the couch.

Somehow… Having him beside was… Strange because of the absence of that being beside her for almost 4 days. Her heart thumping faster than usual and she felt the same thing when you're going to give a speech to the whole being in the school—yes, nervousness. Nervous for being with him and nervous because of something that she couldn't describe with words.

Like something bad was going to happen.

"Rin-san." Len called out to her from the silence, startled with the sudden call, Rin jumped a bit.

"W-what?" Well, stuttering is normal when you're startled… Right?  
"I have been thinking of something lately," He started. From Rin's point of view, that was going to be a long and important talk. Well, something like this happened not-so-often in Rin's life because you know the truth, she hardly ever face the trouble, so she almost never face a serious talk. Maybe she had faced it, but she just being cheery as usual, the supposed to be serious talk (from the others' perspective, of course) was a usual, informal chatting for Rin.

"Actually I don't belong here from the beginning." He said calmly like it was nothing when it was something for Rin. Now she looked at him wide-eyed-ly, not because she startled with his sudden talking again, but from his words.

"What—" Her words were cut off.

"I'm just a stray 'dog' that you found here," He looked back at her, once again their eyes locked to each other after 3 days of 'separation'. "Of course this isn't my house because it's yours."

Something bad really did happen, though Rin's brain hadn't caught it all, "…what did you say?"

"I'm going to search for my own living place." He said, "I'm not going to be with you anymore, and I think I don't need to explain it anymore."

When her brain had processed all of them, a scream in her head was heard by herself, 'NO!' She tried to stay calm and asked a few question, few question that would prevent him from leaving, "You-you don't know where you are going!"

"I can go wherever I want." He replied shortly, their eye contact broken.

"You don't know anything about this place—you don't remember anything, right?"

"Then it's better to find out."

"And of course you need money to keep on living, if you live 5,000 years ago, you may survive without money but now you can't!" She didn't even know that she could say something like that.

"And what do you call this if it's not money?" He pulled some—many amount of money surprisingly from his pocket.

Rin was taken aback with that, "Wha-what?"

"It's more than clear now, Kagamine-san. No use of holding me back."

_Kagamine-san_?

'N-no…'

* * *

The upper-part of her house was dark as usual, or maybe because it was night time already. When the sun was shining, the light could peek into the room a bit, at least everything could be seen well with that small source of light. Since it was night, she brought a flashlight with her to look at things clearer. There were some boxes here and there, not arranged very neatly but it wasn't messy as well. And in the middle of the room, there was a piano.

"Think of it, I haven't played this black, lonely thing for years…" She said to herself. She opened the cover and pressed a button. The voice of a single note echoed throughout the room. Rin felt nostalgic hearing the sound of piano. Just a single note was enough to make her feel nostalgic. Knowing that she still could play the piano even a bit, she began to press some buttons of the piano. Once again, the voice echoed slowly, clearly, and serenely. She paused when the notes began to jumble one to the other, she was out of idea of what should she play. She only memorized like… 5 songs.

'Maybe there's music book inside this room?' She rose up from the piano seat and began to explore the room. Her search didn't go bad, after all. She found a book, a children songs collection. Well, at least she found something. Beside, she really didn't mind the children part—she was totally okay with that. She walked back to the piano and sat on the seat once again. Once the book was opened, her finger began to take a position on the piano's button. But no button was pressed by her finger.

She just realized that it was too dark to see the notes on the sheet. She could play the piano because she had memorized it out from her head and she could see the book because of the little help from the flashlight and the bright color of the cover was really helping her. She really couldn't do anything in that state.

Grunting, she walked to a certain corner to find a light switch. She found it, but nothing happened when she push it.

'Don't say that there's no lamp on the ceiling…' She thought as she directed the light of the flashlight to the ceiling. Sure, there was a place to place the lamp but there wasn't a lamp there. 'And I think there's a lamp in this room somewhere?' All she remembered about the lamp was, it was placed on a table. A table. As long as she could remember, there was only a single table there. On the corner.

Then she began to think that the room had more than 4 corners but that wouldn't be possible at that time, though.

She found the lamp shortly after she found the table—on the corner, yes. She picked up the lamp but felt that something else that felt like a paper was there. She ignored the thing—it was a junk of paper, after all… That was what she thought—she walked to the piano and step on top of it to reach the socket. She wasn't that heavy after all, the piano wouldn't break just because she stepped it. She turned the lamp so it could get into the socket. Once the lamp was there, she smiled because of the accomplishment of her try to place the lamp. She jumped down after making sure that there was nothing on the floor so she wouldn't step on it and broke it _beautifully_. Then she skipped to the switch and switched the lamp on.

A success, because the lamp turned on, shining the room pretty well. She turned her body to get a better view of the room. But the room wasn't like what she had expected. Seeing the 'abnormal' thing, her mouth opened slightly and her eyes widened.

There were music sheet everywhere, scattered on the floor, taped on the wall, stacked on top of piano. Why didn't she realize this before? Maybe because of the lack of the light but… The room looked slightly different with music sheet being here and there. She grabbed the nearest sheet and scanned it, it looked like it was just being written… She hastily walked to the piano and played the song.

'I never heard this song before but it sounds nice…'

Again, she picked the **tons** of the sheets again and again, trying it one-by-one. Although she thought it was impossible to play all of them in one night. After playing a few songs, she felt something strange in her heart. 'I've heard this song somewhere…' she had her brain thinking of the song while her eyes and her fingers coordinate to each other to play the piano. Then a thought struck her, 'Usually I hear this song when I'm… eating oranges?' She kept on playing the song until… 'This is… The song that Len-kun usually play…' She put the sheet away and picked up another one. She didn't pick a sheet of paper, but some sheet of paper that was bundled into one. She read out the title.

"Boukyaku Alice,"

She turned the paper and saw another music sheet on its back with a different title—perhaps the song was different?

"Kuuchuu Teien,"

The same thing happened again, there was another sheet behind it.

"Hannya no Men,"

Another one.

"Daishuushi,"

Rin flipped the page and she found what seemed to be the last page.

"Resonance…"

That was the end. Now she was left thinking, 'Why did those sheets was bundled, anyway? They didn't even relate to each other…' From the title and the lyric—why there was lyric on those sheets, anyway—she thought they didn't related to each other. Then what was the purpose of bundling it? The other sheets seemed to be not bundled from one to the other… With that, she rechecked the sheets and found no difference in it, nothing in common in the song and… nothing, really nothing related. That was what she thought until she read the titles' first letters.

'Who am I?' Now she knew the reason why it was bundled. When you read the first letters, it made something like that.

"He wrote this, didn't he…?" Rin muttered to herself.

Suddenly she didn't want to play the piano anymore, she put the bundle of the sheets on top of the piano, turning off the light and she went out from the room.

* * *

On the previous night, Rin could go to sleep easily because she was sleepy already when she got out from the piano room—wait, since when it became a piano room?

She felt so refreshed when she got up—it wasn't like she usually got up late, anyway. She was always _early_. But it was different than usual. It was just… Better.

She took a quick bath and wore her usual uniform, after that she went to the kitchen to take some oranges for breakfast. What she didn't expect was a breakfast, set for her on the table. Len left already?

Oh yes, Rin forgot about that. Len. The all peaceful and fresh morning turned upside down just because of a name.

She hastily picked the breakfast up and head outside, to the school.

Well, she walked to the school like usual, trees and flowers on her left and right side. Summer was nearing from the look of… Everything. Leaves from the brown-ish branches became greener. But she saw something not green, but a reddish-pink.

"Ah, hello Teto-chan!" Rin called out, recognizing the reddish-pink something that happened to be her friend.

"Rin-chan!" Teto called back at her while waking to her. "This morning is sure bright and sunny, right? Sure it's summer~"

"You're right!" Rin said. She always had a good time with Teto.

She forgot about her problem for the time being.

* * *

Finally break time.

After doing practically nothing in the class with Teto at the morning, the bell finally rang and the teacher came into the room. They finally study the lesson and well, break time.

Rin was just about to stand up and go out from the class when Gumi walked to her desk. Well, Gumi had been ignoring her, right? Then what did she want to do? Break her ignorance so everything will be back like before? If that really happen, Rin would be so pleased…

"I need to talk with you, Kagamine Rin." This Gumi was somewhat cold and unfriendly to her. Maybe she changed? She wouldn't change that fast…

Gumi pulled her to the yard, when green grass was splattered messily everywhere. They need to wait until summer comes so the grass wouldn't be so 'messy' anymore. When she finally stopped walking, Gumi turned her head to Rin with a serious look and opened her mouth to speak. "You know that I had been ignoring you for some days?"

Whoa, she confessed? Usually something like that just didn't happen… From what Rin knew because of the lack of experience. "O-of course I do. But I think, what makes you ignore me?"

Gumi's eyes widened, "You're not angry?"

Rin smiled at her, "I have no reason to be angry…"

Gumi sighed, a sigh of relief, "Thank you, and sorry… Because I ignored you…"

"No… problem? But then, what's the reason? Did I do something not right that make you angry somehow?" Rin gave her a direct question.

"Um, no need to talk about that…" Gumi said, waving both of her hands in front of her face.

"Well, it must be something…" Rin said, then bowed, "Sorry if I do something not nice to you…"

"Apologize accepted," Gumi grinned. Her grin only last for 5 seconds, though. Her face became serious once again, "Well, that's not the _real_ thing I want to talk about. It's about Kagamine… kun."

Rin titled her head to a side, she really didn't think that Gumi would talk about him, "What's about him?"

Gumi's expression changed into shock. "Well Rin, you didn't…" Then she sighed, "Oh it's nothing, but he seemed to be ignoring you as well…?"

Rin's cheery face just disappeared to nowhere. "Uh, that's true…"

"And what do you think…?" Gumi asked.

"What do I think… I don't know, he just ignored me like that—well, he's still making breakfast for me and all, but I never saw him home except yesterday because I was out at the night…"

Gumi sighed again, she was just going to sigh again and again if Rin didn't get it, "And you… Maybe something happened between you and him?" She asked, "Better the two of you make up sooner or…"

Yeah, about the moving-thing, "He told you that?"

Gumi looked away uncomfortably, "Well, yeah but… I gotta go." She turned away in hurry, leaving Rin in a static position.

Rin began to think, she thought about things more often lately. What did she do to Len…? Something bad maybe? He started to ignore her last Monday, so maybe something happened in Sunday? Sunday… They were…

Shopping.

In the morning, she _played_ with him.

When they were shopping, he was out from her memories. Means he wasn't there…

Did she leave him? She was the one who _forced_ him to go with her and she left him?

That was a long time for her to realize her mistake.

'Why didn't I realize it earlier?'

Maybe he wouldn't go if she apologizes to him.

Maybe he would forgive her.

Maybe everything would be back as usual once more.

* * *

The only place that Rin could think about was just the roof top because he was there when he was 'missing'… A week ago, though before she _ran_ there, she had checked the class and the class was just _empty_. Well, the class never actually empty before, making a suspicious impression built up in Rin's heart. For her friends, Gumi was _probably_ still outside doing something that she didn't have to know and Teto was _probably_ out of bread and buying some at that moment. The problem wasn't on her friends at that time, she had to find Len now and fast.

* * *

…and yes, he was there, staring at nothing (if you count sky as a something, well… That's was the 'staring point') near the edge of the roof that was fenced with an iron-made, silver colored railing.

Rin walked up to him with her tip-toe, making no noise at all. All she wanted to do is scare him and let him fall down to the bottom of the building. She would be very surprised if he wasn't dead yet.

Rin tapped Len's shoulders _hard_ and making a loud noise along with that, "Booo!"

Yes, he fell down, like what she wanted. But unfortunately fell down as well—

…that was so not happening. When she arrived at the rooftop, she just stood still at the same spot, staring his back. Many things running here and there in her head.

First, how she supposed to apologize? By giving him a flower—no, she didn't even have any. Giving her orange stock—that was a complete no-no for Kagamine Rin. Acting different like… Became his servant? Ah, let's just skip it and think about his reaction. Yes, the after-reaction.

Second, how if he doesn't forgive her? He would really move away—she would pull him to stay with her—and what was with that thought of not leaving her forever? Rin swore that she was blushing because of her own thought. She would follow him—well, it was **clear** that he didn't forgive her, then he still has that 'hate' feeling for her and—maybe—he would kill her afterwards—oh no, that was just not-Len-like.

Confused and really… _annoyed_ with her own thought, Rin pulled her hair down with her hands, forgetting the existence of her pure white bow above her head, successfully making it a bit untidy. Without noticing her own movement, her foot was tapping the floor rather loudly and fast. It made a pretty annoying sound even for herself.

Fortunately—or _unfortunately_, Len turned to the source of sound, that was Rin. Now their eyes met and Rin just didn't know **have** to say what.

Now which way of apologizing should she use? The most normal one?

Then she bowed to him with hesitation, "I-I'm sorry that I did something that may be not that—ah, urgh… Well…" The poor Rin just didn't know what to say.

She didn't get the usual look of him—the innocent and clueless one—but getting a glare. A sharp glare. Just after she finished stuttering, he spoke to her coldly, "I never knew that you're that kind of a selfish girl who wants everything."

"I-I know that! I just realized it by now and now I want to apologize! I'm really-really sorry for that and I… Just… Sorry! I was really selfish—I know that because I-I'm the one that **pulled** you out from the house and **arguing** with you and said that that was just a **drama** then I… I **left** you when we were shopping and I mean by that is sorry-sorry and really sorry!" She said that in less than 20 seconds—that was sure fast.

"It's… Easy to apologize… Huh." He muttered, somehow loud enough for Rin to hear.

'It's… Like that…?

He didn't forgive me…

He didn't…

Why I feel like… Want to cry…?'

She walked to the edge of the roof, now was standing beside him and she was looking away to nowhere from the rooftop. She had to hold back her tears that were going to fall down from her eyes. She wasn't going to **cry** in front of him—she hadn't cry for years and she was going to cry in front of him just because he didn't forgive her? No, she just couldn't do that.

Actually Len felt really uncomfortable with the current awkward situation, and at that time Rin was just standing beside him, watching the scenery from the school's rooftop. Was she okay? She just fell into silence after that.

"Rin-san," He started, inserting a slight sigh, "I think I am the one that should be apologizing… Of my previous words. Something _else_ is just distracting me and… I'm sorry for ignoring you and… Saying that words yesterday. I thought that you will never apologize… Rin-san."

Rin lifted up her head a bit—she didn't even realize that it was down—hearing those words. Somehow it made her… Better.

"And Rin-san… Yesterday night you played the… Piano, weren't you?" He asked.

She saw him smiled. That kind smile… Finally he smiled at her again. She missed that. She really missed that.

"It's good."

'Is that a compliment?' Rin thought. After that, she heard a sudden cracking sound from her side.

She turned her head to the source of the voice—her right side. Before she know and realize anything, she fell down freely from the roof.

She tried to grab the railing, but what she grasped was just the air.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!"


	16. Chapter 16: Crown

~~Sorry—I don't think anyone missed me though. I have to study last week (hm-m, text book in front of me, Pocky on my left, phone on my right, pencil in my hand (to draw on the book) is what I call 'studying') and away from the computer! You know it's horrible... So...

Disclaimer: I forgot to say that I don't own the songs I put in the previous chapter... I don't even know _all_ the songs I put there (I'm a horrible fan... I know that)...

* * *

"And how are we supposed to find him…?" Neru asked Miku in a bored tone, eyes glued to the small screen of the phone on her hand. Currently the two of them were sitting on a pretty comfortable couch in a certain room in Kaito's café—actually how many rooms were in that café that located nowhere crowded?

"Asking someone, maybe?" Miku guessed. "Well, we should, maybe someone around here knows about him… Somehow that might be true…"

"Your words began to be un-understandable…"

"Neru, I don't think that 'un-understandable' is a word…" Miku eyed her, though Neru didn't notice it because her eyes were attached to the phone.

"What's your next plan?" Neru asked as an annoyed feeling began to build up in her.

"I think we should start now, asking the nearest person we know, as it will be strange if we ask strangers…" Miku explained with a smile on her face. "I'll start with the nearest person, Akita Neru-san! Well, may I ask you, Akita-san? Do you know Kagamine Len? If you do, do you know where's—"

"Miku, it's not **asking** when we're looking it together and you asked me…" Neru said boldly, eyes finally off from the phone. She muttered to herself after that, "…you use your stupidity in the wrong time…"

"Maybe you do know something but not telling me anything…" Miku asked, her index finger placed on her pouting lips.

"Of course I'll tell you if it's about him!" Neru nearly yelled at that.

"Huh, acting stupid isn't as fun as I thought…" Miku said, earning a 'WTF?' look from Neru. "Maybe we should ask Meiko-san or Kaito-san…"

"Kaito is probably busy and I'm not going to say 'too busy because he's taking care of this café', but he's too busy eating ice cream…" Neru asked, eyes back to the phone. "Ah, one more thing, Meiko-san probably busy slacking off or torturing Kaito—I know that. Or she's drinking… Maybe…"

"Oh… Maybe I have to ask you again." Miku said easily. "Well, may I ask you, Akita-san? Do you know—"

"Oh oh oh oh you may not ask me!" Neru yelled before Miku repeated the same thing again. Or maybe, before Miku repeated the 'acting stupid' again.

"What's with that yell?" Meiko suddenly barged in, meeting Miku and Neru who were… Practically slacking off. Okay, so Meiko wasn't off drinking somewhere or torturing someone…

"Oh Meiko-san! Just in time!" Miku greeted her cheerfully despite the noise that they just made, "May I ask you, Sakine Meiko-san?"

Meiko laughed a bit at Miku's joke, "Oh yes, of course you can."

"Well… Actually… We never tell you how did we end in Ame…rica, right?" Miku started while Neru rolled her eyes. She knew that Miku would explain it in _detail_. "We were looking for someth—someone there…"

Oh, that was a lie… They weren't there because they were finding him but the truth was they fell from the sky. Yes, sounds very imaginary and Miku bet that Meiko wouldn't believe them. Of course, who will believe in something like that?

"Yes, and what kind of help you will need from me?" Meiko asked _politely_. Something was surely wrong there. Where was the Sakine Meiko who usually forces the two of them into wearing some strange costumes?

"We-we want to ask you about someone—maybe… Just maybe you know him…?" Even Miku looked terrified with this strange condition.

"Before that, maybe both of you want to know what's wrong with me…" Meiko said. Miku and Neru's eyes lit up suddenly to her direction, "Well, let's just say that Kaito is pretty beaten up there, so maybe I should treat him as I supposed to do… What do you think about that previous polite-talking?"

Neru was really pissed off at that point. First, Miku was playing dumb and then Meiko acting polite? Maybe texting with this red-haired girl—well, _she_ said like that, red hair, red eyes, _plus Santa outfit—_they never met each other but Neru just texted this Miki girl because she want to, why did she even care for someone else?—wasn't that bad, she would be insane because of Miku and Meiko.

"It was good!" Miku complimented. Well, actually it wasn't bad at all, even in Neru's opinion.

"Well, let's continue then, what d'you need?" Meiko asked, now the language became more… Meiko.

"We want to ask you about someone, maybe you know him…" Miku said but noticing something was not right. After realizing what was the 'something', she clapped her hands, "Ah, I'm repeating the same thing again…"

'That's not even important…' Neru thought.

"Okay, I know it's a 'he', and…?"

"Well… How many yellow-haired people you've ever seen?" Miku asked.

"…I'm assuming that he has a yellow-haired hair. That's the reason you asked, hm?"

"O-oh yes. And I assume that you've seen many…"

"That's not helping at all…" Neru muttered under her breath.

"Well, by any chance… Do you know Kagamine Len?" Miku _finally_ asked.

'Why didn't you ask that from the beginning?' Neru yelled in her head. But in her head, she just thought, 'No.'

"Kagamine… Oh, him? Of course I know him!" That was an unexpected reaction from Meiko.

"…huh?"

* * *

Chapter 16

* * *

Everything was moving in a fast pace. The fall, her mind, everything.

'Who knows that the strong-looking fence is actually really fragile?'

'Why did I lean there? If I didn't lean there, of course I'm not going to fall down.'

'Why I'm doing something on the rooftop? I can ask him to meet me instead of me meeting him?'

'Why did I make fault at the first place?'

Rin had no idea how could she think about many thing while falling off from the school roof fast. Maybe the thinking pace was also fast? Or maybe she was going to die ("Ahahahaha, dying is a trouble!"—obviously **no**) when her body makes impact with the land, so that was her last chance to think before die? Was she really going to die? But if she really going to die—really? There were many things that she wanted to do. Many. Maybe she wasn't that lucky to be long-living?

Her eyes were closed already—she didn't want to see the blood when she 'arrived' down there. And it was when it stopped.

She could feel that she had stopped falling from the wind that didn't seem to blow her harshly and no sound of it anymore (the whoooosh-ing sound… yes, that). But she didn't feel any pain, or hearing a thud from herself making impact. What she heard at that time was just her fast heartbeat.

Rin collected every single gut in her then compiled it into one and use it to open her eyes. All she knew was: She saw Len's face, somehow he caught her—somehow because her brain didn't have any idea on how that even possible and they were stopping mid-air.

Mid-air.

Mid-air.

Mid-air.

It echoes.

"GYAAAAAAAHH!" Rin shouted in panic. "Put me down! Put me down!"

Len looked down at her in confusement, "But you will fall if I do…?"

Rin groaned, "Bah! Why we're **stopping mid-air** anyway? Is that even possible?" She yelled, somehow her panicked self was gone somewhere and replaced with the usual Rin. And that was when she saw it—white fluffy thing behind his—

Wait. Was that…

"_Wings_?" She exclaimed in horror.

He shrugged and looked at his back while saying, "Yes they are? What makes you so… _Terrified_?" like it was nothing.

Finally Rin could step on the land safely after they went down—when did they go down anyway? She had too many things in her head. But she was taking the wrong step, making her stumbled and fell, pulling Len down with her. They ended lying in a pretty uncomfortable position. Rin smirked seeing this, "I'm not going to fall down by myself anymore, you know…" Then that smirk disappear by itself, replaced with a curious looking one, "Hey, human isn't supposed to have wings…"

He titled his head to a side, he looked cute like that anyway. Rin really had to held the urge to _kill_ him because of his cuteness, "…no?"

"Nope!" She grinned once again, now smiling because of his clueless-ness. She could see his face closely because of their position. He was going to get up, but she held him down by hugging him. "…thank you for saving me. I… I will die if you didn't, really…"

"It's… okay. I don't want you to die, either…" He replied, still in her hug.

She looked at him straight into the eyes, "Are you an angel by any chance?"

"What is an angel?" Was the reply.

Rin smiled widely, "You're a _bird_, then."

"What?"

"…Never mind." She said though in her heart she sighed in relief because she just asked a question that shouldn't be asked at all. She just relieved that he didn't understand.

"Rin-san… How long we're going to stay in this position?"

"I don't know…" She muttered. "Hey, just call me Rin okay… Len?"

They stayed in that position for a while, the things that could be heard were just their heartbeats, the flapping wings and the dry wind that passed between them. They didn't care about the ringing bell, and they didn't care about their position.

* * *

Because they had made up, Rin decided to 'celebrate' it with watching up late—the next day was break, anyway. She didn't have to wake up early. Well, they'll just watch whatever movie on the TV while eating some fruits (Rin had found out that Len had eaten the whole banana stock, so she just decided that he likes it).

9 pm.

"…I know you're bored. Just go read the books there if you're not into watching or eating. Well, you could eat while reading but then… Where's the heaven of it?"

"What do you mean by 'heaven'…?"

9.30 pm.

"…I know you've read almost every single book inside this house."

"…From where do you know?"

"Ah, I just know."

"…I'll just watch, then."

10.00 pm.

"Whoa. I love your phone. It looks cute, you know…" She peeped to his phone screen, looking at what he was doing.

"Well… I got this from somewhere…" He replied shortly, not looking from the phone.

"Don't say that you got it from Gumi! She has the same one, except it's green…"

"…Rin-s—_Rin_… It's… Something… The opposite…"

10.30 pm.

"Hey, I don't even know that they're going to show that movie! I… sort of like it… I've read the synopsis of the novel and it's pretty good…"

"…so Rin-s—_Rin_ also like reading."

"Oh, don't think made decision too fast. I'm not. After all, the title looks _good_ and I just read the synopsis. Register that in your head."

"…I have to?"

"Ooooh, you really have to."

11.00 pm.

"…"

'She's not saying even a word…'

11.30 pm.

"…think of it, Rillianne looks just like an average princess… You know what I mean by that, but could she really kill… people indirectly like that?"

"…she asked another people to kill them and torture them… Indirectly… But that servant killed the most, I think?"

"Well, he's… Doing like… _Everything_ for Rillianne. His name is Al—hey, more killing scene! Aww, Rillianne asked him to kill Michaela! And he did! Well… Who he loved the most? Rillianne or Michaela?"

"…you love that Rillianne name."

"You're not answering me!"

"Uh, Rillianne…"

"Yeah! Well, Rillianne and Rin, both started with 'ri', of course I like it!"

"…"

12.00 am.

"Rillianne and Allen looked freakingly similar. Hey, do you think something like this will happen? Allen does a bit cross-dressing and becomes Rillianne—I mean, taking her place after _killing_ her, maybe? He could rule the Lucifenia!"

"It's not that easy. He wouldn't. And… no. Rin, let me sleep…"

"No! You're staying with me! Your absence for 4 days will be paid if you do!"

"…"

12.30 am.

"Hey! They did exchange role! Who said that _he wouldn't_?"

"…urgent…"

"…I think you're asleep there. Well, but strangely the trick went too smoothly… I mean, why no one realized that he wasn't Rillianne—of course he wasn't—like… check the gender by looking the…"

"No one wants to do that."

"Hey! He was dead, so they should bury him somewhere. Before burying, of course they'll change the clothes and see the…"

"…shouldn't you be sad? It is pretty tear-jerking if you analyze it more. He _gave_ his life for her…"

"…you should enjoy the show, not analyzing it. I'm not."

"Uh…"

1.00 am.

"Why Clarise didn't kill Rillianne? I mean, more killing scene!"

No answer.

"So the princess life happily ever after? What an ending… I want more cross-dressing scene, it's fun…"

No answer.

"You fell asleep in a wrong timing, God!"

* * *

_"Usually princess wears crown!"_

_"And…?"_

_"I want one!"_

_"Well… From what it made from?"_

_"I… don't know… It looks glimmering gold… Maybe it is made by gold? A lot of gold!"_

_"We don't have any gold…"_

_"We can make it from paper and colored paper!"_

_"Kids! Time to eat!"_

_"Yes!"_

_"Well, I think we can make it after eating…"_

_"Of course we can!"_

_"Seems like both of you are planning something…"_

_"Yes mom! We're going to make a crown!"_

_"Really? That's creative!"_

_"Creative…?"_

_"When you can make anything from a single thing, or you could think about many thing to make, it means that you're creative."_

_"Yay! I'm creative!"_

_"Of course you are Ri—"_

_"—seems like we're out from paper… Your dad is out buying some…"_

_"Aww… This is bad… Let's change to plan B! We're going to make it tomorrow!"_

_"Of course you can, but there are many things that can be turned out to be a crown!"_

_"Like…?"_

_"We have cloth, beads, plastic… Many other materials—"_

_"—ving things?"_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Plants? No hard damage will do!"_

_"That's good! Leaves, stems, branches—"_

_"Fl—"_

_"—en can pick it—"_

_"Both of us working!"_

_"…am I not allowed to make one as well…?"_

_"Ah! Does Rin makes Len-kun sad?"_

_"Both of you—"_

_"You will make one for me, and I will make one for you! I'll be the princess and you'll be the prince!"_

_"—eat—"_

_"So… Flower?"_

_"Yep! I lo—"_

_"—ny?"_

_"30?"_

_"Too—"_

_"—ecology, Rin-chan."_

_"Of co—"_

_"—too many?"_

_"—let for Gumi-chan! Is that okay?"_

_"Okay…"_

_"There's—house—"_

_"Can you—"_

_"Yes!"_

* * *

"…?"

* * *

Something bright hit Rin's eyes rather harshly, making her eyes snapped open. She could hear the sound of people talking in the TV, just suddenly she wanted to shut it off to hear the bird chirping. Then she sat up, only to collide with something.

"Huh? Eh, ah… Rin-s… R-rin, you're awake?" That voice. Rin could recognize it like… _Everywhere_. The only Kagamine Len…

Maybe.

"Uh, yeah… See it by yourself…" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Then she smelled something extremely good. "…You've made breakfast." She stated.

"Yes…?" He confirmed the statement.

Rin jumped up from the couch, ready to run to the kitchen to _steal_ some food. That was when someone grabbed her wrist. Not so long after that, Rin was pulled somewhere without her knowing it.

Seemed like Rin's brain hadn't worked well yet, because she yelled a minute after that, "Wh-what are you doing?" She was pulled through the living room, the not-so-big hallway, then outside. It was pretty uncomfortable because the 'grabber' just pulled her out like her house was going to explode anytime soon, the result she didn't wear any footwear. They were running at a not-so-fast speed, but still running on the small road, passing many green trees.

"I was waiting for you to wake up… I need to show… do… make… something for you… with you?" Len finally explained, which was a complete unclear for Rin.

"Huh what? I don't understand."

Again, Rin was a really really good girl. She told the truth!

"…" No reply. Seemed like he didn't even know had to _do _what to make her understand.

They stopped in front of a small flower garden. Even though it was small, the amount of the flowers wasn't small at all. But from Rin's perspective, they weren't stopping in front of a flower garden. "What are we going to do in front of an empty house?"

"…not the empty house. The flowers…" He said.

"Oh yes…" Rin turned her head to the flowers. "Oh yeah, you know they are flowers… Good."

"Let's make a flower crown?" He _asked_.

Rin grinned, "Okay, I'll—wait, what? Flower crown?"

"…yes?" He answered in hesitation.

Rin had something not really good in her mind, about Len being too girly or something like that… She shooed it away, "Nothing. So, how are we going to make it?" Rin didn't except that she would agree with that rather easily and… She seemed to be okay with making a flower crown?

"Pick up the flowers and tie it with a rope or something like that…?" He replied in hesitation once more.

Rin eyed him, "…you don't know how to make it and still want to make it? Anyway, why do you want to make it like… Badly?"

"…for an unknown reason." Well, that was an answer.

"…right." She turned to the flowers. "We're going to pick these up? Like… Len, you know that there are some flowers in my garden…?"

"I know. I've taken one."

That was getting more strange, "…then what are we doing here…? This is a public garden… Maybe. Then, we're not supposed to pick these up…" Suddenly a thought hit her and she grinned like a something, "Oh, we really can pick these up, you know…"

"…you want to get punished by doing this." He said.

She smiled once more, "Of course I am! Now let's pick them up! If someone realizes that the flowers became fewer, they'll accuse me as the picker!"

"Picker…?" He tilted his head to a side. "But Rin-san, I've picked some as well and… They seem to grow fast… Less than a minute. When I looked at it once more, a new flower had already bloomed…"

"I told you to call me Rin—wait, how…?" Rin asked in disbelief. Well, who would believe in something like that easily?

"Sorry for that…" He apologized, head looking at his feet.

"That's okay…" She said casually, and then realized that her question hadn't been answered. "Hey, how can? You haven't answered me…"

"That?" He looked at the flower, then back to Rin with a shrug, "Have no idea."

"You always be like that…" Rin said boredly.

"You don't believe that…?" With those words, his facial expression changed into a sad one, pout formed a bit.

Rin was being killed inside from the cuteness. Now Rin was sure that her weakness was Len's cuteness.

…did she just think like that?

"I-I believe!" Rin panicked, still being killed at the same time. She picked a flower hastily, "Th-there! I picked it up!"

No one said even a thing for a full one minute. And nothing happened with the flower, nor the plant that was been flowered.

"So, nothing happened." He said easily.

"But I _was_ sure that that supposed to be my line…" She commented back.

He sighed, and bent down to pick a flower, "Sorry then, that doesn't really happen."

Her eyes widened, "You lied?"

Back to his _usual_ clueless self, "No. Maybe I just see things…"

"…so the conversation is over?"

"…maybe. 4 flowers are enough?"

"I don't think so." Rin relied bluntly. "Maybe around 30?"

She got a blank stare after that.

"What? Too many?" She asked, still in her straight-forward tone.

"…no, it's just…" He didn't continue the sentence, but waiting for her to say something.

"We should pick some more and yeahh, we're doomed!" Rin exclaimed happily.

"…how about the eco—"

Rin cut Len off rather harshly, "We need sacrifices."

"…Like that?" He bent down once more to pick up a flower, just to notice something that wasn't supposed to be. The flower that he picked up previously was there once more.

"That's cool." Rin commented.

"What?" Didn't know what she was talking about, he asked her back.

"You put again the flower. How did you do that?" Rin said. Apparently she noticed the flower as well, but in different perspective.

He looked at his left hand, and to Rin, "Rin, I don't put it back. Here." He showed the flower to her and…

"…this can't be true." Rin's brain had worked in its maximum speed and now processing things faster than before. "It grows back again, right?"

Oh… "…you're right."

"…"

"…"

"…I've said I'm not lying."

"I-I believe it now!" Rin said loudly. "Now, go pick some more!"

Picking up the flower didn't take many time, 5 minutes and about 30 flowers were picked safe and soundly.

"Let's get back home, then…" Len said immediately after collecting the flowers. He looked back and the garden looked… Like no one had picked up the flowers. "…that's faster than what I've thought…"

"Hey, you say things rather easily, don't you…" Rin commented. Whoa, what was her that day? Commentator? "It really grows back… I wonder why that only happens when you're the one who do that… I picked 3 flowers and they don't grow back…"

"The reason of picking… Huh?"

"Stop questioning your own statement."

"…right."

Rin smiled without any specific reason of doing that. Seemed like she just… Happy that Len had gotten better. She hadn't heard any 'question about a simple things' for some days… His way of talking as well, had became more human and… Just… More human, except the healing part, the wings part, and the flowers part.

"I'm thinking about random things…" Rin stated.

"…"

"I… Haven't thought about something that 'smelled' random lately…"

"…"

"Because I'm thinking about a certain something… Someone… Well, what do you think about that?"

"…"

"Um, I never feel anything like… Love. Do you ever love someone? Yes, you don't remember, that's what you gonna say, eh…"

"…"

Rin sighed loudly and muttered under her breath, "Now that was a stupid, useless monologue…" Then she glared at the person beside her and yelled as loud as she could, "Kagamine Len! Are you even listening?"

"Ah yes what sorry!" He said that after jumped a bit hearing Rin's sudden yell. "I'm thinking about something, sorry…"

"…It's okay, actually… I'm just _checking_." Rin said. A part of her felt really glad that he heard nothing of her 'useless monologue'.

Why was she asking that, anyway? She blushed a bit without a reason, but she felt rather embarrassed on top of that.

* * *

"Now this is hard…" Rin grunted as she broke a flower once again. "How do you manage to keep it really… Good when I'm ruining like, almost everything…?"

Len looked up from the flower crown that was being made and averted his gaze to Rin, "…just do."

"You know, I kinda _hate_ that statement, but you're saying the truth, don't you…"

"Ah, yes… Here, it's finished."

"It's what…?"

Before she could argue more, he put the pretty flower crown on top of her head. "…suits you really well…"

Rin blushed at this, "Wait, this is for me?"

"Yes…"

"Bah!" Rin exclaimed suddenly, her hand began to reach the spot of the bow. The huge bow itself wasn't there at that moment, replaced by the crown, "This is too good for me…"

Someone's hand prevented her to remove the crown by grabbing her wrist. Rin knew whose hand was that very well, and blushed once again, "I made that for you… Seems like you don't like it but… I want you to wear it…"

What a way to turn back Rin's heart, though that didn't happen purposely, but… "No! I-I _love_ this! This is really good that… That I think it's better if someone else wears this instead of me…"

"Just… Just don't take it off…"

Her eyes widened a bit at his plead. "O-okay then…"

The moment went smoothly with Rin doing her crown, that was until Rin turned to Len with a sheepish grin, "Well… I don't think I can continue this…"

And she got a rather not-good response, "I won't help."

'Cold!'

"O-okay, I'll continue…"

Even thought it took an hour for her, the crown was finally done after that. "I managed to make one as well, heh…" She grinned after that. That was a good chance to do a play, she had a crown for that… "Hey, I'm finished, so let's play a role-game now. I'm Rillianne and you're Allen, got it?" She said fast. "Bow down to me—the princess!"

He bowed down to her. She was surprised that he could understand her words even in her fast-paced talk.

"My servant, clean up this mess and make me breakfast after that!"  
He cleaned the mess and went to the kitchen to take the previously made breakfast. After that he served it to Rin.

'This goes too… Smooth that I don't think good at all…' Rin thought, realizing that she could ask Len this and that _really_ easily. Maybe because of the role-play—he became the servant—so he really served her? "Le—no, Allen, you can sit and eat with me…"

Len looked her confusedly, "Who's Allen?"

Rin froze, "…ah, it's… snack time…" She managed to say her—Rillianne's—favorite phrase and then banged the table that just being there at that moment with her hand, "I said we're role-playing." She stopped when realizing something, "Did you even watch the movie?"

"Not really… Ah, so we're playing? I just did that because you asked me to."

Rin sighed, "The play is over… Thanks for the breakfast, by the way…" Rin thought for a moment, then came up with something, "Since you didn't really watch the movie, well… Actually they're related to each other, Rillianne and Allen. It was the fate that separated them apart… Well, logically he was the prince, then…" Then Rin put her flower crown on Len's head, "I'm the princess and you're the prince!"

Len stared at Rin wide-eyed-ly.

_"I'll be the princess and you'll be the prince!"_

Rin seemed to be lost in her own thought until she said something more to herself, "I think something like this had happened before, maybe it's just my thought… Imagination…"

"No…"

Rin tilted her head, making the crown moved a bit, "What do you mean?"

"…no…"

* * *

~~Let's say that they watch Aku no Musume (I don't even know the story... In the novel)...

This is getting boring, ne? Still, thank you for anyone who read this ^^ I won't stop saying thank you!


	17. Chapter 17: Citrus

~~Okay, so I won't separate the Miku-Neru part anymore.

* * *

Miku and Neru became less talkative that day. When they thought it was nothing really important, Meiko saw their silent-ness at that day.

"Do you get into a fight or what?" Meiko asked straightly after they got out from the changing room. "No one saying a thing except for the customers… I'm glad that you can focus on your work but still, what's happening?"

Neru looked up from her phone, probably texting someone again. "Bah. Nothing important. We're just thinking about something."

She wasn't telling a lie, that was the truth.

"Nah, this happening after 'yesterday'. And yesterday was when you said something about searching someone—shoot."

"What's wrong?" Miku asked, not feeling that concerned but still…

Meiko grinned, something strange, "Well, **all** shift for today had ended."

"Then…?" Miku just didn't get what Meiko was talking about.

"Kagamine-kun should be… _Away_, then. You're looking for him, right?"

Miku froze when Neru just didn't care about that. "Ah…" She got up from her sitting place. "Yes… What?" Suddenly she asked, just realizing that she didn't really understand it.

"What are you asking? Kagamine-kun works here after your shift, you know, so you don't meet him while working. I'm totally confused, then." Meiko sighed at the end of the sentence.

"You didn't tell us he works here…" Miku said half yelling. Then she grabbed Neru's hand and pulled her. "We have to chase him, then."

"…seriously, why I'm involved in this…?" Neru muttered, her eyes never leave the phone even once.

* * *

Meiko's eyes following their silhouette that kept getting away and soon fading. She went to Kaito's office once Miku and Neru were out from her sight. She opened the door and Kaito was eating ice cream just like usual. Meiko rolled her eyes and slumped on the nearest couch.

"What happened?" Kaito asked, then scooped the ice cream into his mouth.

"That Hatsune and Akita… They're so ambitious for doing something that seemed to be important…" She sighed at the end. "I found out that actually they're looking for Kagamine. He's not a missing person, right? Wonder why they're so… Like that."

"Well… Maybe there's a problem between them." Kaito said with his usual voice and still scooping the ice cream. "Kagamine seemed to be… Strange, you know…"

Meiko muttered under her breath, "Gossiping time…?"

"Usually it happens when you're not around—wait, you never _be_ around…"

He earned a punch from Meiko. His ice cream wasn't harmed, luckily.

"He even asked me what a dessert is, what a cash register is and… Many things…"

This is getting stranger for Meiko, that just sounded like a… _Stupid person_ who doesn't know many things.

"But before that, he questioned his own name when I asked his name at the beginning."

"Then he's a complete idiot?" Meiko asked easily like that was nothing.

Kaito wanted to face palm, but seeing Meiko… Just no. "What I think is maybe something happened to him…"

"And that's not our problem." Meiko cut in.

Kaito's facial expression told that he was confused. "And I thought you're the one who offered him to work?"

"Yeah!" She exclaimed, "But getting into someone else's personal problem isn't good at all, so…"

"But still…"

Meiko smirked, "Oh, I heard you cut me…"

Suddenly Kaito regretted his action before.

Hitting noise echoed throughout the room, making the sound even more horrible than already was. Suddenly a squeaking sound of the door got in between the hitting sound. Kaito looked at the door and Meiko stopped hitting him. What? She had to get a good impression in front of everybody's eyes excluding Kaito (plus Miku and Neru, they had seen it already… Meiko's true nature…).

It was clear enough that Len was standing near the door, head peeking inside, "Am I disturbing some—"

Meiko cut him off, "Wait, you're here."

"Yes… I am?" He asked back.

"So Hatsune and Akita are…"

Kaito gave her his confused look, she got it and explained a bit, "They're running outside—Hatsune dragging Akita but whatever, looking for him."

"So they're…"

"Chasing no one."

"…"

"Um, I want to ask something…" Len said, began to feel uncomfortable and wanted to get out as fast as possible.

"You're bringing trouble…" Meiko muttered lowly so no one heard her.

* * *

Chapter 17

* * *

When Meiko thought that Miku and Neru was chasing for no one, apparently Miku had found something more interesting with less Negi involved. A teal-colored house that matched her eyes and hair very perfectly. The problem wasn't that, she knew that house _too_ well.

"Hey, that's my house," She said casually, hand finally off from Neru's and they were walking instead of running. "Maybe we should so some visit? I'm sure someone's in the house…"

Phone had taken Neru's interest into almost everything (yes, when Miku dragged her, her hand and eyes were locked to the phone, still texting), the only response she gave is nod. Her mind say that something was strange with Miku's idea—hello, a random someone get into your house?—but too lazy to let it out from her mouth.

Miku knocked the door, smile plastered on her face. If Neru sees that, she'll just back off her, but she didn't even avert her gaze from the phone. Getting no response at all, Miku grunted and chose another way to get in, not from the door, of course.

"Let's barge in from the upper window," She told Neru. Neru rolled her eyes and put her phone into her pocket. And she just saw Miku's said house. A green house. Nothing more.

"What makes you want to get in that badly?" Neru grunted, but relieved a bit. At least they didn't have to run again…

"I want to bring back memories~ I forget already how do this house looked from inside…" Miku explained, but sounded like she didn't care.

Neru gave her a 'WTF?' look. Miku ignored her and signaled her to go up. Then wings sprouted out from their backs and then flew up, to an opened window. They landed softly with a small thud, their wings disappeared by itself once their feet hit the floor.

Miku tip-toed to the door, opening the door and got out from the room. Then she smiled when she finally could see the inside part of the house. Some parts of it were changed, but most of them still stay the same like what Miku knew before. Somehow she felt satisfied.

She continued the tip-toeing down using the stairs (not jumping off or flying down. A big **no**), Neru just followed her silently without making any sound—even no phone keys were pressed continuously.

Miku noticed that the TV was on, means someone was home. She smiled once again. Ah well, whoever living in that house should get a visit from her.

Seemed like the person who was (supposed to be) watching the TV noticed her, because she heard a soft rustling voice from the chair-look-alike. But that person just didn't care and continue on watching.

However, Miku didn't like that at all. She had to get his/her attention. Whoever living in her (previous) house should be!

"Hello." Miku greeted, eyes looking at the person who was on the 'chair' upside down, because she looked from behind the 'chair', she had to do that if she wanted to see the person's face clearly. Miku had expected that the person would freak out seeing her, but all _he_ did was shooing her away.

"You're blocking the TV!" Was all he said. Miku recognized the voice and face, then exclaimed happily.

"Mikuo! Mikuo Mikuo Mikuo!" She exclaimed happily and jumping up and down, her twin-tails bouncing a bit.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeeeah, 'Miku! Miku Miku Miku!'…" He said, imitating her voice but changing the name. "Ah, I know what you want…" He continued after thinking for some moment. "Long time no see."

Miku froze. Just… Froze there, not saying or doing anything but kept her mouth hung open. "…is that what you say when you meet your **dead** sister?"

Mikuo chuckled a bit, "Well, seems like I'm not surprised with that…"

"Why's that?" Miku asked him.

Again, she got a smile as a reply, "I believe we'll communicate somehow after you died…"

Miku blushed a bit, "…like that?"

Neru sighed, but something got into her mind. She picked up the phone and use the 'something called camera', she clicked the capture button and the picture was in her phone. "Whoa, this is good. Maybe I should use this to blackmail you, Miku. Let's just say that you love your own brother…"

Miku's face turned red, "I'm not, okay?"

"And who's this girl?" Mikuo asked when he found Neru's existence there.

"She's Akita Neru… My… Something." Miku explained.

Mikuo's face turned into a surprised one, "Don't say that this girl is your _girlfriend_…"

"Of course no!"

"I absolutely against her." Neru stated and it's clear that she was doing something with her phone.

"Then why you're… _Together_?" Mikuo asked.

"I don't know you're sooo talkative, Mikuo," Miku commented, "Ah, because I'm dead, I'm… _We're_ living somewhere else. In that 'somewhere' else we asked to find someone in this so-called-earth…"

"She's also dead, then."

"I'm impressed, brother… You're smarter now." Miku said.

"And now you're here. Can't you just live in the earth, then?" Mikuo asked again and Miku started to get bored with the conversation.

"Well… we'll wither if we don't go fast." Miku continued explaining rather casually.

When Neru's eyes were on the phone, actually her ears were still there. Hearing that, she looked at Miku with wide eyes, "What did you say?"

Miku smiled, "Well, I said we'll wither, but I'm just kidding…" Neru just about to sigh in relief, but Miku continued, "Of course we won't wither, we're not a plant. We'll just _disappear_…"

When Miku could say that very easily, Neru began to feel uneasy.

"It's better you got back, then…" Mikuo said, suddenly lost interest with the topic. He wanted to watch in peace once more!

"Miku, you said we'll…" Neru asked cautiously (which was rare).

"Yep." Miku answered shortly.

"And he'll…"

"Yep."

"Then…?" Neru began to feel scared, even just a bit.

"We better get going~" Miku sang, and ready to go upstairs, going to use the window to 'escape'.

"You can use the door, anyway. Why did you get in from the upper window?" Mikuo asked.

"Erm, I knocked the door and no answer, so…" Miku said truthfully. "…we'll use the door now." She said and began to head outside, Neru following behind her, eyes to the phone once again.

And where was the panicked Neru before?

Miku opened the door and stepped outside, but turned her head back to her house, "You know what… Maybe this is the real… Last meeting."

"I suppose…" Mikuo answered, "Well, it's goodbye now?"

"Yeah… And where's mom and dad?"

"They're working."

Miku smiled, "Say goodbye from me to them… And goodbye…"

She stepped one step forward and closed the door slowly.

"Ah, that's the past… We're going to meet again, anyway…"

Neru heard her mutter and commented, "Don't say that that was just a drama…"

Miku put her index finger on her lips, "Eh, not really… Maybe to make it more dramatic, but it's not a drama…"

"Then…"

"We better hurry up a bit," Miku cut her off, "You don't want to disappear, right?"

"Hey… You're the one who wanted to visit the house…"

"I can't help it… But it's night already…"

"…"

"Postpone it."

"You're deciding that by yourself."

* * *

Another sunny, bright day. Making the summer felt more summer than before. Maybe it was really good to swim or sleep on that burning day, but you know what students must do. Go to school.

Break time must be the best moment in the school.

"It's hot," Gumi stated, looking up to the shining sun through her red goggle.

"You don't have to say it, though. All of us know it already…" Teto giggled. "Maybe we really have to go to the beach together someday…"

Gumi thought before answering Teto's offer, "Sure."

Both Gumi and Teto were expecting Rin to say something. In fact, she didn't. Rin was strangely, too silent at that day. Teto could hardly notice her existence next to her.

"And someone is not responding at all…" Teto joked, making Gumi giggled a bit.

Rin snapped out from her thought—God knows what—and looked at Teto and Gumi wide-eyed-ly, "What?"

Teto giggled again—she really should reduce her number of giggling, it gets strange-r and scarier, "Rin-chan is thinking about something else…"

Rin's confused face turned happy, "I'm thinking about the ice cream in my refrigerator… There are a lot of them… From strawberry to orange flavored… Even _Negi_… Somehow Len _brought_ them… From I don't know where… But it should be really good in summer…"

There, Rin's way of talking was unusual.

Even Gumi was unsure about what she said, "…Erm, you said brought… Not bought?"

"No, _brought_." Rin said, "I should bring them for the two of you… It's good you know…"

"Rin-chan, you're broken." Teto said, jumping a bit to face Rin, causing her drills to bounce.

"Oh yes, I'm broken…" Rin said, a twisted smile formed on her lips.

"Rin, are you okay…?" Gumi asked with her voice tinted with concern.

"Of course I'm okay…" Rin said with a slight of sigh, "I only have something in my mind, okay…?"

"Oh, oooh… It is about crushes?" Teto asked happily like she always does.

"N-no…" Rin blushed a bit at the question.

"Well, then what's—ah, bread!" Teto was going to ask Rin when her eyes distracted with a pile of French bread displayed on the school café's showcase. At the end, Teto left Rin and Gumi to get the mouth-watering French bread (at least for her).

While Gumi and Rin were left by Teto, Gumi had an idea that Rin would be answering whatever she asked truthfully. So then she asked something out-from-nowhere to Rin, "Are you liking something… Someone?"

Rin smiled to Gumi, a bright smile, the usual 'Rin smile', "Of course I like Le—" With that Rin clapped her mouth shut with her hand and removing it as fast as she could with red face, "Lemon, they're citrus… Like orange…"

Gumi widened her eyes in disbelief as she got the meaning, 'Oooh!' and thought that it was a perfect time to annoy Rin, "Lemon like orange… Lemon without the second letter?"

"Lemon is citrus and orange is citrus… Lemon without the second letter…" Rin's brain was really cooperative and she got the meaning fast, realizing what that 'lemon without the second letter' was, she blushed heavily. "I d-don't understand, what do you mean b-by that…?"

Rin wasn't good at lying, obviously. Gumi noticed this and decided continue. "And Rin, you **love** orange as well, right?"

Rin's blush became lighter as Gumi asked that, she even answered the question with a genuine smile, "I absolutely love that heaven-fruit!"

"…how about orange but the first and the last letter are removed?" Gumi asked calmly. Yes, she sounded calm when she actually smiling—no, _giggling_ inside.

"Whatever, or however orange is, I still love it!" Rin stated.

"Even with the letters removed?" Gumi asked, trying to annoy Rin even more.

"Ye—wait, it's not 'orange' anymore with the letters removed, it would be… What are removed? The first and last? So it'll be…"

Gumi smirked seeing Rin's face went red again, so her attempt to annoy Rin was successful after all…

She hit by Rin as the payback. "Gu-gumi, I'm not… O-okay?"

"There you are, stuttering!" Gumi exclaimed happily with full-of-joke tone.

"It-it is wrong to stutter? Hu… human nature!" Rin offended, still stuttering.

Gumi put her index finger on her chin, pretending to think about something. "And from what I know is, human often stutters when they're scared or embarrassed. Are you scared? What are you scared of? Me? Oh my little Rin, I won't harm you at all!" Gumi just found it fun to annoy Rin. A really fun thing to do, indeed…

Rin started to calm down a bit. A minute passed, and no weird things came out from Gumi's mouth. Rin sighed in relief. She really felt uncomfortable at that time.

Her peaceful moment didn't last long. Gumi suddenly said something, "Then, what is Len—"

Rin started to hate this. There was a strange feeling in her every time she heard _his_ name being mentioned, that feeling was just _there_. Sometimes appears, sometimes disappears (usually didn't appear, though. Rin is insensitive—I mean, _not really_ _sensitive_). She completely didn't understand why but she hated this for sure. And there was Gumi, teasing her like what… She had successfully made that feeling built up in her (which was strange) by mentioning his name indirectly.

Oh, she really wanted to stop Gumi from doing that. Maybe changing the topic would be good, but she had to answer Gumi's…

"A function in Microsoft Excel." She said, saying the first thing that appeared in her mind.

Gumi 'eyed' her 'suspiciously', "You're into computer that much, Rin_-san_? I never know that you're—"

"Gumi, stop it please!" Rin yelled, making sure that every word produced from her mouth processed well in Gumi's mind. She was getting too annoyed.

Sure, annoying Rin is fun for Gumi.

But what Gumi did was eyeing Rin blankly, "I haven't even finished with my question…"

Rin raised an eyebrow, face become flushed once more. "What?"

Gumi made a strange face immediately, "Oh, so Rin Rin is sensitive about her crush? Ooh, so sweet~"

Rin shook her head while trying to hide her blush, "Shut up, Gumi… A-anyway, what were you going to ask?" She silently prayed in her head that her question wasn't going to be anything Len-related.

"What is Len-kun to you?"

Rin could have been on the floor in orz position if she was facing a different situation.

"He's my…" Rin trailed off, she really didn't know what to say. What was him to her? She just _found_ him and he became her unofficial family. Well, Rin couldn't think about anything better, so she just said it, "He's my brother?"

"Hm-m. That's a question, not an answer." Gumi stated, "But you like him."

Rin stepped on Gumi's foot, "Of course I'm not!"

Surprisingly, Gumi stepped her foot back just after she lifted her foot from Gumi's, "Then what's with your stuttering and roll roll…"

They paused for a moment, until Rin elbowed Gumi on her stomach, not harming at all, "I won't go incest!" Rin yelled, blush still visible on her face.

Gumi giggled as Rin stomped off to where Teto went before, "I'll buy some bread as well, maybe they'll go well with the ice cream…"

"Bye then…" Gumi waved her hand to Rin. After Rin waved back, Gumi turned away and went somewhere else.

"Maybe it is better if the forgotten thing to be forgotten forever?" She talked to herself again, but acted like she was talking to someone else, "…or not?"

* * *

"I~ I~ I want to eat ice cream~ I~ I~ I want to eat ice cream~" Rin said, already 'hanging' carelessly on the couch in her cozy living room after school. School time was over very fast… Well, Rin loves that.

"Rin… you sound like my boss…" Len commented from –Rin didn't know where–.

With this, Rin's head lifted up, "What boss?"

"M-my boss… What's wrong with that?" He asked back.

"…oh yes, you're working. I forgot." With that Rin leaned to the sofa, but quickly sat upright again. "…your boss is an ice cream freak?"

"Well, he loves ice cream…"

"Ah, right…" Then Rin leaned back to the sofa, she sat upright after that, **again**. "I want ice cream…" Was all she said.

Len, being kind like usual, walked to the kitchen without any words and came back bringing a bowl of ice cream.

…what a servant.

"Thank youuu~" Rin thanked him after she snatched the bowl of ice from his hand. She began to eat the ice cream while relaxing. However, she felt a rather sharp glare from her side…

"W-what?" Rin asked as she turned her gaze to her side, just to meet another pair of blue-green eyes which were _indeed_, glaring at her.

"I am not your servant." Len said, looking away after he said that.

Rin rolled her eyes, "Well, you're not. Who said that you are?"

He gave her a questioned look, "…I think you do?"

"…you think. But I don't think so." Rin said shortly and went back to her orange-flavored ice cream. Taking another spoon, she decided to comment on the ice cream. "Hm, this is good. But not as good as the real thing, though…"

"Hey Rin, why you're not looking for oranges today?" Len asked. Whoa, since when Len began to say 'hey'?

"Ah, this ice cream can hold it for maybe, approximately 2 hours." Rin said carelessly.

"We're out of them."

"…"

"…but maybe you like lemons. There are some in the refrigerator."

Rin's eyes lit a bit hearing the name mention. "Well, I like orange better than lemon, but lemon will do, I think…"

"…will do what?"

"Oh, hold my orange wants. Lemons aren't bad, really. Wait, from where you got the lemon? I don't remember buying them…"

"I don't, either. Uh, I have no idea…"

Rin gave a weird look, "Okay? Ah, maybe mixing them will be good? Orange ice cream and lemon… How do you think?"

Len tilted his head to a side.

Rin face-palmed.

"Ah well, I'm going to try it by myself…" She said as she stood up, heading to the kitchen to take some lemon to mix with the ice. Everything went smoothly, she walked, then she opened the door of the refrigerator, and then she picked a lemon.

Rin felt something was wrong there. She ignored the uneasy feeling and walked back to the living room to sit in peace with her ice, her lemon, and _her_ Len.

Ice, lemon, Len.

Lemon, Len.

Len.

_Gumi_.

The previous events rushed into her mind, it just hit her brain at that moment, when Gumi said that Rin loved lemon minus the second letter. And orange without the first and the last letters.

_Len._

Rin freaked out instantly.

* * *

Omake

* * *

At Hatsune household…

"What a weird dream about Miku, a yellow girl and an OOC me… Well, whatever…"

* * *

~~Um, I'm just lazy to update.

I found it annoying hearing Len singing in English (hey, I'm bored)... Or it's just me? Depends on the song? Uh...

About the lemon-orange thingy... Maybe it's confusing... Um, write it in Japanese? Then removing the letters like that will make 'ren' (Len)...

Next chapter will be something new~

Uh, be kind please? (...what that supposed to mean, anyway?)

I've said I won't stop so THANK YOU!


	18. Chapter 18: First

~~So, I don't get any (reviews). But then, the 'something new' is here!

I'm glad though (for no reason), maybe there's some people who (still) read this story~ Thank you so much... Enjoy!

* * *

Gumi loved peace.

She hardly ever got a free time for herself in peace. It was a common thing if her brother barged into her room when she was reading a manga, then he snatched it from her hand.

Yes, _a common thing_. Her brother didn't give it back is a common thing, Gumi ended buying a new one is common as well. Her money was wasted, but… She just couldn't stop her brother from 'stealing' her books.

She was jealous of Rin's peaceful life…

So the time when she could read peacefully was really, really rare. She was really glad that her brother was out—doing something God knows what—so he wouldn't barge into her room and steal her book. She wasn't reading books or mangas, though. She thought of texting her friend… Her _another_ childhood friend.

Basically, her best childhood friend was Rin—no, Rin was still her best friend even until _now_. Gumi used to live near Rin's house, but she moved away—not that far away, they still go to the exact same school—and met a pink-haired girl named Nekomura Iroha. Well, that girl has a fetish to cats (mostly kitties)… But Gumi thought that nothing was wrong with that. Iroha and Gumi used to go to school together. That was until Gumi went away to take a 'vacation'. Later Gumi knew that Iroha had moved somewhere.

So yes, texting Iroha.

* * *

Chapter 18

* * *

1. Peace Breaker

_To Iroha:_

_"Long time no see! How are you? It's me, Gumi~ __–Gumi"_

_From __Iroha_:

_"Ooh, __Gumi-chan? Really long time no see! –Iroha"_

_To Iroha:_

_"Hey, you haven't even answered my question! –Gumi"_

_From Iroha:_

_"Oh, right. Well, I'm really okay right now and hey, there are many kittens in my house! –Iroha"_

_To Iroha:_

_"Really? Would love to see them –Gumi"_

_From Iroha:_

_"I can even bring them __**all**__ to your house? By the way, where do you live now? You're back right? –Iroha"_

_To Iroha:_

_"Not that far away from my old house—my family is just uncreative, but you don't have to bring them __**all**__, you know… –Gumi"_

_From Iroha:_

_"Or maybe you can visit my house, it'll be much easier that way and maybe my family wants to see you again after… Some years \(^o^)/ –Iroha"_

_To Iroha:_

_"Ah well, that would be good as well. I assume you still live in the same house? –Gumi"_

Her phone beeped about a minute after her last message. Gumi was texting Iroha, so she thought it would be her. She opened it and found out that it was Rin who sent her a message. She opened it and found a rather strange message.

_From Rin:_

_":#%}^^)(%^*(#%$%^$)#^{%aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa –Rin"_

Gumi thought that Rin might press the phone button accidentally and sent it to her, so she decided to ignore it.

Suddenly her ringtone could be heard throughout the room, Gumi carelessly picked it up to stop the annoying ringing voice—she wanted to change the ringtone but never managed to remember it. She casually said, "Hello?" to the phone and waited for the caller to react.

And what was the reaction?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Gumi pulled the phone away to prevent her ear to break. She looked to the screen to find out that the call had ended.

That was when she knew that the previous message wasn't an accidental one. She sighed deeply.

'Why Kagamine Rin… Why do you have to break my peaceful moment…?'

* * *

2. Reason

_To Len:_

_"Something's wrong with Rin –Gumi"_

_From Len:_

_"Um, yes. She's… Shouting, screaming, yelling… -Len"_

_To Len:_

_"You don't know what to say, eh? Right, it's better if I call you –Gumi"_

_From Len:_

_"Do not call me –Len"_

_To Len:_

_"Okay? So, why Rin's 'shouting screaming yelling' like crazy? She called me and all I heard was just an 'AAAAAHH!' like that –Gumi"_

_From Len:_

_"I don't know. I took a lemon and she started to… -Len"_

_To Len:_

_"She freaked by a lemon? Oh. __**OH**__. I know why –Gumi"_

_From Len:_

_"Why? –Len"_

_To Len:_

_"Oh, you don't have to know, really. Rin will freak out more if I tell you –Gumi"_

* * *

3. I Forgot…

_To Gumi:_

_"Okay…? –Len"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Is it okay to continue this texting? I really have nothing to do. My friend just doesn't reply my last message –Gumi"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Wait, how is Rin? –Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"She's—"_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

_"—freaking out again. I'm safe here –Len"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Wait, don't say that you're hiding somewhere in the house –Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"But I am. What's wrong with that? Rin is scary. Maybe it's better if I hide in _there_ but going out isn't the best option –Len"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Where? Okay, that's not important but answer. I don't know want to say what again –Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"Rin has a piano in her house and 'playing' it isn't a bad thing –Len"_

_From Gumi:_

_"And I realized something there… -Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"Realized what? –Len"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Oooh, another 'nothing'. So, you like to play the piano? –Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"Well, I usually play it after school, but now I'm working after school… Because of that 'avoiding Rin' problem, somehow working isn't bad… -Len"_

_To Gumi:_

_"…ah yes, I forgot to work today because of Rin… -Len"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Congratulations ^^ -Gumi"_

* * *

4. Killing Attempt

Rin's freaking out moment had ended about 2 hours after that. Finally the house became calm again. Too calm even for Rin who was used with soundless world inside her house.

"I'm missing something, or… Something's missing…" She muttered to herself.

Right, Len.

"Think of that, I haven't seen him since…" She trailed off, "When and where did he go…?"

She searched to every single corner in her house (which wasn't that many) but didn't get any result. That was until she realized that there were still 4 corners left (one room, 4 corners).

The guest room, _his_ room.

She began to walk slowly towards his room, holding the knob and pushed it down. She sighed in relief when she knew the door wasn't locked. She opened the door, got in with foot tip-toed.

Then she realized something.

No sound, no light. Means: He was asleep.

Rin's eyes became as sharp as an eagle, ready to catch its prey.

And her prey was on the bed. Sleeping peacefully, soundlessly, _cutely_.

"Well~ It's killing time, right? Seriously, I won't kill you if you aren't this cute, you know…" She _hissed_, licking her lips.

Just when she was about to do something to make him die, the sane part of herself told her to stop.

"Well, I'm being unreasonable… What the hell is 'a sane part of me'? Guess I'm still kind enough…"

* * *

5. Dream

_"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~" Rin was humming a meaningless word to herself while putting an apron on her petite form._

_Right, Kagamine Rin was going to cook something._

_With her body wrapped up with the apron with an orange print on it, she took some ingredients from the refrigerator. Then she chopped it, blended it, cut it, and finally put the abstract-colored ingredient in a frying pan. Innocent smile of happiness was on her face as she turned on the stove and began to cook whatever in the pan._

_But Kagamine Rin will always be a Kagamine Rin who doesn't have the ability to cook. Suddenly a burst of fire came out from the stove to the pan, burning the cabinet above the stove._

_Like it wasn't enough, the fire didn't go away from the cabinet nor the stove (or the pan). It began to burn whatever on its way, including the counter._

_In her panicked state, Rin could only stare at the burning flame of fire._

_…then, Len came from nowhere with a fire extinguisher on his hand (which also came from nowhere), putting the fire off with the extinguisher with a wide, crazy grin on his face…_

_…what?_

"My dream last night was pretty random…" Rin said.

Teto raised an eyebrow, "What was it?"

Rin shook her head, "Nu-uh, it's just too strange and random even to tell…"

* * *

6. Threat

Rin knew she had to see Gumi and talk to her immediately. She had to talk about the 'incident' in the previous day. She really had to…

She suddenly saw a green mop of hair, she knew it was Gumi even from 500 meters distance. She thought Gumi was the only girl who would wear a goggle on top of her head to the school.

Gumi saw Rin as well and she smiled at her bright blond-haired friend, "Morning," she greeted

She didn't get a nice greet from Rin in reply, She got a roar instead, "And she said 'Morning' like something hadn't happened at all,"

"Well, sorry…" Gumi said, looking down to the floor, looking guilty for once. Apparently that guilty expression was just a fake one, "B-but I can't hold it Rin, it's so fun to tease you like that…"

"Fun, heh…" Rin chuckled darkly, and Gumi knew that the dark chuckle was just a fake one. "You know what happened with me and that lemon _or_ orange. I'm talking about a person, not the fruit, thanks for your word-play."

Gumi smirked, "Well, you made him scared after all…"

Rin's mouth hung because of that, "And from where do you know?"

Gumi held her right index finger up, "Oh, of course I know, I asked _him_ about what happened, after all…"

Rin pouted, somehow her angry face stayed there, "I hate you Nakajima Gumi-san,"

Gumi smiled, "Oh, just hate me if you want to."

"Erm, I don't want to hate you. But don't spread that false… False… Rumor? No, not rumor… Whatever is that, don't spread that," Rin started. Gumi nodded, somehow understanding Rin's strange choice of words, "Or I will eat all your carrots."

'Anything but that—!' Gumi screamed in her mind. Sighing, she looked at Rin.

"Okay."

'Wait, that's too easy, right?' Rin thought. "Nonono, I will even kill you after eating your carrot."

"Okay Kagamine Rin-_sama_, I won't tell anyone but don't take my carrots," Gumi stated.

Gumi's weakness is in carrots…

"You want me to kill you then?"

"You don't have to, really…"

"Then, I will spread news that actually Gumi is a—"

"Really Rin, stop it. I won't tell anyone. Beside, why would I tell anyone? You don't go incest, right?" Gumi asked questioningly.

"…you got the point there," Rin answered, trying to be wise. Only trying, "Well, I don't think that's a threat…"

"Me neither…"

* * *

7. Strangeness

Gumi was literally glaring at her drilled companion, "So Teto-chan, what is your opinion about Kagamine Rin?"

"Well…" Teto started, "I think Rin-chan is pretty unique… I mean, who wants to get a trouble? And I think that happened since 'a long time ago', right?"

Gumi nodded, "You're right. Well, before that 'long time ago', she faced something terribly wrong and you know what I mean… She has a problem."

"But why does she look for trouble?" Teto asked.

"I don't know about that, you can say that Rin is rather… strange." Gumi said truthfully, "You know that she wants to rape a teacher…"

"That's because the 'middle finger' didn't work," Teto explained, "So she chooses to do the 'real thing'…"

"But really, I don't think that she will go that far. Guess she changes a lot, eh…?" Gumi laughed dryly. "We need to stop her."  
Teto tilted her head, "Why's that?"

"You know, I know Rin more than you do. If she finds a trouble sooner, something will likely happen." Gumi said.

"But she said her brother is a trouble for her, and nothing big had happened,"

Gumi put a confused face, "Who—oh, right. He doesn't seem to be a trouble…" She slurped her drink, "She doesn't know the real meaning of trouble, then…"

"But understanding Rin-chan is a hard thing to do," Teto said, "I just don't understand."

"Me neither…" Gumi trailed off, seeing a white huge bow that became nearer and nearer.

And that white bow belongs to the only Kagamine Rin.

Rin smiled to Gumi and Teto once she reached their table, "What were you talking about me?"

* * *

8. Accurate

None of them gave an answer. The thing that was running in Teto and Gumi's head was, 'How does she know?'

Like reading their minds, Rin spoke, "So it was right, you were talking about me." She looked out through the window, "I asked my brother about your whereabouts, and he said that 'They're in the cafeteria talking about you'."

'What?'

"Really accurate, isn't it?"

* * *

9. Favor

Meiko smiled when her eyes caught something yellowish running into the café. The figure stopped in front of her, then he bowed, "Sorry Sakine-san… I… Didn't come yesterday."

"Well well, that's okay Kagamine-kun," Meiko smiled (which was really strange). Her smile turned into a smirk, "Being a good kid, you came earlier, right? So your shift will be changed to the third just for today. Kaito won't be angry because you didn't come yesterday, but could you do a favor for me?"

Len eyed the brunette suspiciously, "Yes?"

* * *

10. Crossdresser

Meiko took a step back from 'her masterpiece'. Her eyes were shining brightly and she was smiling like crazy, "I never think that uniform will look really good on you!"

Not looking at the crazed woman, Len kept on staring at the (frilly) maid uniform he was wearing in confusion, "But I think only girls will wear something like this…"

Meiko clapped her hands, "Exactly! But it looks good at you!" Then her smile disappeared somewhere and replaced by a smirk, "So, you'll work in that for today, okay?"

"Eh?" He exclaimed, slightly louder than his usual voice, his face red from embarrassment. "I-In this frilly uniform?"

"Right, that's the payment of not coming yesterday."

"You always do something like this to anyone who skipped work?"

"I usually… Don't. But it's **you** who didn't come yesterday, so I have to do this. Ah, Kagamine-kun, we should do this often~"

"E-Eh?"

"Then go to work~!" Meiko exclaimed, pushing Len out from the changing room, "And don't forget to speak with a girl voice!"

"What?"

* * *

11. Unrecognized

Miku was working in the café, asking for order here and there. It was tiring, but Miku enjoyed that. After all, it wasn't that tiring, there were about 5 people who were taking order and serving the ordered drink or food. Currently there were 2 waiters and 3 waitresses.

Wait, there were 4 waitresses.

'Who's the other one?' Miku asked to herself, then she began to look around the café, herself, Neru, 3 familiar people, only she didn't know their names.

The other one was a girl with gold-ish yellow shoulder length hair that was put into 2 small ponytails. The other important thing was that girl…

...was spacing out.

Miku approached her since Miku herself wasn't taking any orders at that time, "Well, it's nice to meet you! You're new here, right?"

That girl let out a surprised yelp, then coughed a bit before turning to Miku and answering her, "Wh-what?"

That voice was sweet, anyway.

"It's a 'nice to meet you'!" Miku repeated again, bright smile formed on her lips.

"N-nice to meet you…"

'What's with this girl being all so nervous?' Miku thought. Then came up with something to say, "You don't need to be that nervous, you know… I 100% won't bite you!"

"O-okay…" She looked down to the hard floor.

Miku thought of something to say, and found something rather good, greeting, "Well, my name's Hatsune Miku? What's yours?"

The yellow-girl looked surprised by the question, "Ka—"

Before she could finish, a customer called out.

"I'll go there," She said and left Miku there.

Neru came not long after that, "What are you doing here?"

"Erm, I'm standing." Miku 'answered'.

"That's not an answer…"

"It is!" Miku complained. "Oh yeah, is there a new employee there… With a yellow-gold hair?"

"Oh, her," Neru said carelessly, "Right, I just saw her right now."

None of them said a thing. When they realized that they were in the middle of working, then began to walk to a different direction in the café.

* * *

12. Do You?

"Hey Meiko," Kaito called. The called person answered his call.

"Hm, what?"

"Do you recruit a new employee without me knowing it?"

Meiko just gave him a quick glance and looked away, "No I don't."

Kaito put on confused face, "…then who's that yellow girl?"

Meiko sighed, "If you're smart enough, you'll know that _she_'s not new here, Bakaito…"

* * *

13. Related

Miku kept on thinking about the new girl. 'What's her name?' was the most bugging question in her head. And Miku could help it, she kept on staring the girl like a mother looking for her child. Yes, she stared at her until the shift ended.

Even after she finished working, Miku kept on thinking. There was someone she knows with the exact same yellow-gold hair and emerald eyes…

_Kagamine_.

"Right Neru!" Miku shouted in Neru's ears, making the phone-addict to move a meter from her while covering her ears.

"Yes right! But you don't have to yell on my ear!"

"Sorry…" Miku muttered but continue on shouting, though Neru was 'more safe' than before, "Let's look for Kagamine-sama again! That girl reminds me of him!"

"Not again!"

* * *

14. Rants

Miku walked through the summer leaves that scattered everywhere.

"Why must we go to search for him again?"

Miku knew the sun was shining like a 'what' above the sky, ready to burn anything on its way.

"You know it Miku, you **know it**."

She let the wind blew her face, ahh… Even though the weather was deadly hot, as long as the wind is there, Miku didn't care for that 'hot matter' anymore.

"You know that last night we were sleeping on the **bench**. Right? The small bench in the park?"

Somehow it was very relaxing. Miku could stand there _forever_ to enjoy the breeze.

"My back is aching like a hell in the morning!"

She just had to eliminate one annoying thing to enjoy it completely.

Miku sighed, "Neru, can you just… Stop… Complaining… Okay?"

"I can not!" Neru yelled, "Every time we tried to search for _him_—I don't even want to say that name again—we always, _always_, failed."

"But that's the task, Akita Neru!"

"I don't care anymore!"

"Our time is limited, okay? You want to vanish then? And you'll say, 'Yeah, whatever Miku, I just want to stop!' like that? I don't think so, okay?"

"But Miku, at least… Try to look for _him_ in a proper-er way, okay?"

"Then what if there's no other way?"

"Whatever!"

"Neru, this is for us, all of _us_, so don't be selfish okay?"

"I want to be selfish, so I… I just simply hate you, Hatsune Miku!"

Miku glared at the yellow-haired girl, "Fine, whoever found him can go back **alone** and the other one will be **left** here!"

"Okay, fine!"

Miku and Neru started to walk to a different direction. But after 5 meters walk, they whipped their body back and faced each other.

"But it'll be easier to go together, Neru…"

"Then what? I'm thinking the same thing…"

"…it's fixed now, right…?"

* * *

15. Troublemaker

An hour hadn't even passed after getting home after working, but Rin was already…

"Look what I have here, Len! A carbonated drink in a can! Let's see what happened when I shake it and open it!" Rin said enthusiastically, showing the 'can of carbonated drink' to… The whole world.

Just like what she had said, she shook the carbonated drink and opened the can, but what Len could see was…

Nothing happened with the can, neither the drink.

"Whoa?" Rin looked at the can in confusedly, "You know that it supposed to burst out like… BURST—" She said, mimicking the 'burst' sound with her hands, "—like that! But as you can see, nothing happened!"

No one said a thing after that. That was until Rin sighed.

"I can't even make it bursts… I really _really_ can't make any trouble, right?"


	19. Chapter 19: Second

Rin drank the soda, no expression showed on her face. After finished drinking, she put the can harshly on the table, making Len yelped a bit from the startling sound.

Then she began to say something really fast, "Why nothing happened even after I shook the carbonated drink or maybe it's me who was cursed so I can't get any trouble but maybe if I shake it more something will happen with the drink so something or someone could get drenched oh I would like to spill no I mean burst my paper of homework and I ended not bringing it to the school then the teacher will punish me and that's how I'm going to get punishment but it's okay if it was me who was drenched instead of the drink then I have to wash my uniform then it doesn't get dry so I wear casual clothes to the school or skipping school and the teacher will punish me oh I repeat those words but whatever Len you don't mind getting drenched with this rather sticky carbonated drink right?"

"E-eh, sorry… What did you say?"

* * *

Chapter 19

* * *

1. Trouble Seeker

Rin sat on the couch after that 'burst' attempt, finally back to her sanity, "So, _we_ know that I can't make any troubles, so…" Then she clapped her hands, "Let me keep seeking for it!"

"Rin…" Len started, "…why do you really want to…"

"Because—!" Rin cut him, "It's simply sounded fun, you know…"

'That reason is _simply_, unreasonable, right?'

* * *

2. Kagamine

Rin spotted Len looking at the mirror with a somewhat great interest.

"Uh," he turned from the mirror to her, "This is what you call 'mirror', right?"

Rin tilted her head, "Yeah? Why do you ask anyway?"

Then he began to _knock_ on the mirror, making a small clang-clang sound. At first, Rin didn't mind. But after some moments, she finally looked to the source of the sound.

She sweat-dropped as he tilted his head, "Eh? The sound of mirror…?"

"…you know, it doesn't mean like that…"

* * *

3. Not Important At All

Since Rin had failed in making trouble, (and the mirror moment was just too… _Cute_. She could kill him right at that moment if she wants to) she decided to eat oranges like she usually does. But at that time, while reading a newspaper.

Rin doesn't usually read it, but sometimes she finds it fun, so she keeps ordering it everyday (wasting money—yes. But being a Kagamine Rin, she just let it be like that).

"Politic, politic, politic…" She said while skimming the page, completely ignoring the politic news that she found really boring. But when she knew that the politic news didn't even end, she sighed, boredom could be seen in her face. "Why the news is all about politic…?"

Then she snapped her finger.

"Len, I know something now!"

Len looked up from the book he was reading (and no one knows—when did he start reading, anyway?) "…what?"

"I don't want to be a politician."

"…"

"…what? Is something wrong with that?"

He looked back at the book, "Nothing, it's just unimportant."

"I just know… Sometimes you're mean, Len…"

* * *

4. Advertisement

When political news makes Rin bored, this time something rather bright caught her eyes.

A great sale in the convenience store.

With oranges included in the sale-list.

"Lenlenlenlenlenlenlen~! I know where we're going to go this evening!"

* * *

5. Ability

"Hey! If we're not fast enough, we'll be out of oranges!" Rin yelled to her counterpart behind her.

"…and why we have to run, anyway? Oranges won't run away…" Len muttered, mostly to himself.

"But if we're late, the oranges will be taken away and I won't get any!" Rin pouted angrily. She recovered fast from that 'pout moment', after that, she grabbed Len's hand and began to drag him _while_ running.

Fast.

And faster.

"Um, can we slow down a bit…?" He asked, sounded pretty… Pathetic.

"Usually I'll think it twice if you're _pleading _with that cute-irresistible-sad-voice, but this time… No." Rin said truthfully, "We have to run even faster now…"

"I can't go any faster…" Len said, sounded even more pathetic.

Rin didn't say anything for 10 seconds or so, "…it's getting even more irresistible now… But come on, you can _fly_!"

"I can… Not fly!"

"Yes you can!"

"No I can't!"

"Then what's with the previous _wings_?"

"Don't know!"

"But you can fly!"

"But no, I can't fly!"

"You can fly for the God's sake! I _saw_ you **fly**… I mean, you caught me **midway on the air without any trees or ladders or buildings** **involved**!"

"That doesn't mean I can!"

"But you can!"

"Then what if I can?"

"…take me flying with you. This is getting tiring…"

"I can't!"

* * *

6. Not Again

Strangely, Rin stopped in front of a clothing store which is full of dresses.

"Hmm," Was all she said.

"What?" Len asked.

"…I want to see some of these…" Rin said and entered the shop, still dragging Len behind her.

Yes, it was strange because Rin wasn't that type of girl who wants to deal with dresses, then why did she ask to enter the shop?

Rin smiled widely (wider than a normal person will do) to Len, holding a frilly dress on her hand, "I think this will look good on you…"

Len reacted much faster than what Rin had thought, "NO WAY!" he **screamed**.

"...okay." Rin said, putting the dress back to its place.

...then, Rin finally knew that Len could scream.

* * *

7. Suspicious

Miku and Neru were running in the crowd, trying to find a certain blonde. Well, the road was filled with people and people, it was really hard to run in that crowd, but they just did. From what Miku heard (Neru really didn't give and attention to that, she just kept staring at her phone _while_ running) the convenience store was having a great sale… Maybe that's why the road was so crowded.

Miku sighed, how could they find a blonde boy in that crowd?

"Don't say that you're giving up," Neru said, somehow her eyes were still to the phone.

"I'm not…" Miku said, "But maybe we can do something to get some fresh air… Because of this crowd…"

"So what…?" Neru asked carelessly.

Miku looked around, trying to find something fun to do or to see. She looked to her right and found something behind the glass.

A pair of black headphones.

"Ooh, maybe a headphone will be good~" Miku said happily.

"What?" Neru asked.

"Let's go inside~"

"What's with you… And what is a headphone?"

"And you don't know what that is? Oh God, this is bad Neru! So let's come in with me and see what headphones look like~"

Neru looked around to save herself from the 'Scary Miku'. Luckily… Or not, she caught a glimpse of blonde_s_. She quickly pointed outside, "Miku, there are some blondes!"

"Nah, people cosplaying," Miku answered, still looking at the headphones carefully, seemed to be ready to buy it already.

"Miku! This one has a bow on his or her head, and the other one with a ponytail!"

"Come on Neru, this earth is not as small as you think!"

"Miku, you're the one who dragged me to come this far, right?" Neru yelled, already became impatient, "So we have to check **every single** blonde!"

"Nah, you don't check that new girl in the café,"

"ARGH!"

* * *

8. Accident

Neru knew, if they didn't catch up the blondes, they might lose them and didn't see them again. Maybe Neru protested when Miku dragged her outside, but she really want to 'catch' him and go back as fast as possible.

While Miku still examined the headphones with her eyes, not daring to touch it.

"Seriously Miku," Neru growled, "We have to go!"

"Can't you see it? I'm still looking at this!" Miku yelled.

Being the impatient Neru, she pulled Miku who was doing whatever she wants.

And at that time, Miku was (finally) picking up the headphones, began to trace it with her fingers.

Neru ended pulling Miku who was picking the headphone outside the store. That was when the headphones still on Miku's hand.

Accidentally bringing it with her without paying it.

* * *

9. Active and Passive

"Come on Len! We have to hurry!"

"Rin… Please…"

"No more—"

"But—"

"—buts!"

Neru eyed the blondes from behind, the male one looked awkwardly familiar. And the voices… Then Neru looked back to the 'being-pulled' Miku, "Hey, do you think it's him?"

"Where?" Miku _finally_ looked up from the headphone, actually pretty surprised that Neru wasn't looking at her phone.

"There, with the bow-ed girl…"

"Maybe…?" Miku asked confusedly.

"'Kay, so we have to walk faster, running if necessary." Neru muttered.

Suddenly, a loud voice of a girl could be heard from their front, "Let's start running again!"

A boy's voice followed, "No!"

After that, the blondes were gone from their sight.

"Oh, do we lose them?" Miku asked.

"Okay then," Neru said, began to run to search for the blondes.

Suddenly a man's voice, sounded irritated, yelled from behind, "Oi, you two… Come back!"

"Aiiieee, we're being chased while chasing!" Miku exclaimed casually.

"What?"


	20. Chapter 20: Third

The scary looking security from the store that sells headphones (Miku didn't know what the name was) was chasing them like crazy. They really didn't have any more choice than chasing the blondes while being chased.

Not until they realized that the scary looking man was getting closer and closer, his face became scarier (if that even possible), ready to kill Miku and Neru.

They arrived at an intersection. Neru and Miku saw the blondes turned left. The road on the left was even more crowded than the right one. It was hard to run in that mess of people.

"Right!" Miku yelled, Neru turned right after Miku said that.

Lucky for them, the security lost them after they turned right. Knowing this, Neru stopped running.

Miku looked at Neru with disappointment in her eyes, "Well, it's your fault. Who asked you to pull me when I'm examining? The headphone was accidentally brought along…" She showed the black headphone.

Neru glared at the teal-haired girl, "Who asked you to examine it?"

* * *

Chapter 20

* * *

1. Nuclear Fusion

"Whoa, it's crowded!" Rin exclaimed, looking at the crowded scene in front of her eyes.

She started to walk (which wasn't easy at all) between people and people _again_, dragging Len along. Then she smiled (brightly) when she spotted a stack of a certain orange-colored fruit.

"...stealing will make us get into a trouble, right?" Rin said, looking at the oranges as if it was heaven.

"…please don't take me into your stealing plan…"

"Eeeeh? Buy why?" She whined—and he had to admit it, she was… What, cute?

"…eh, just… Don't."

"Give me your reason,"

"Uh… Because we have to do the right thing?"

"Ahaaa, smart!" Rin exclaimed excitedly, patting his head (and ruffling his… hair). "So, I have to find a way to get into a trouble and 'a right thing to do'…" She said, began to pick the oranges and put it… In Len's arms.

"Help me, okay?" she asked.

"Oh, okay…"

After picking the oranges, they headed to the cashier (and walking in that crowd wasn't getting easier at all). While walking, Rin seemed to be in her own world, imagining things.

"That? No… Or that? Uh, no…"

The self-debate continued until they reached the cashier. Just when the cashier-person (?) had finished counting, Rin mumbled, "If I dive into a nuclear reactor, then I…"

That person raised one of her eyebrows when she heard Rin's mumble, "You want to do that? I recommend you to do that in night..."

"Eh? Why is that?"

"So no one could see you!" The (now known as crazy) woman smiled while clapping her hands altogether.

"Oooh, thank you for your advice!" Rin smiled back, bowing to her.

Len watched that dot-eyed, "...huh?"

* * *

2. In Peace

Rin was once again, lying lazily on the couch while eating her just-bought-orange.

Rin loved peace.

* * *

3. One by One

While eating her oranges, Rin just knew that there were some bananas in her house. She didn't remember buying it… And she just noticed it when she saw Len came from the kitchen to sit beside her with that fruit on his hand.

He peeled the fruit, ate it, threw the peeling to the trash bin, went back to the kitchen, then came back bringing a banana, sat beside her, peeled the fruit, ate it, threw the peeling to the trash bin, went back to the kitchen, then came back bringing a banana, sat beside her…

Happened more than 5 times.

"Um…" Rin started, "Len, you really don't need to do that… You can bring them **all**, then eat them, then throw the peelings…"

Len stared at Rin with wide eyes, "…right."

* * *

4. Casually

"…have you noticed that Hatsune and Akita have gone somewhere…?" Meiko asked.

"I just realize it right when you said that…" Kaito said, eating ice cream, **again** in his room (office) in the café.

Meiko gave him a strange look, "…why you're really stupid…"

"Tch… Meiko, I'm not. I won't be able to open this café if I'm… Stupid." Kaito said, eyes to Meiko.

Meiko began to play with her short brown-hair, "…then, prove it,"

"…and how?"

She smirked, "If you're not stupid, you'll know who's the 'new' employee is,"

"But you said she's not new…"

"I said that because you said she's new… Anyway, _he_ already works here for about 3 weeks…"

Kaito started with a 'but' again, "But if I'm not wrong 3 weeks ago, it was Kagamine-kun who—"

Meiko cut him off, "—exactly."

"…"

"...what?"

"YOU'RE KIDDING!" Both of them heard a yell from behind. They turned their heads to face the door at the same time, and saw Neru was standing there, face red with anger, "SO IT WAS **HIM**?"

Behind Neru, they could see a nervous looking Miku. Then she grinned, "…right, that 'new girl' is familiar… So it was him all along then…" Her face turned dark suddenly, making everyone—including Meiko (right, once again, Meiko)—shivered, "…then tell me everything about that…"

* * *

5. Scary

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Rin asked her 'brother'.

"…not yet," Len answered blankly. "…anyway, last night… I felt… Something or someone was going to _eat_ me when I was sleeping…"

Rin kept her face straight hearing this statement, practically frozen, "…right. It sounds… Scary… Yes, scary…"

* * *

6. Let's Do It

_Rin was alone in the dark house, currently watching a random TV show while hugging a nearby pillow—strangely she wasn't eating any oranges at that time._

_After exactly 30 minutes after she watched that unimportant and boring TV show, she heard the door opened._

_Knowing the one who just got in, she jumped from the couch and ran (really carefully, avoiding some random things on the floor) to the door._

_"Welcome home, Len!" She greeted cheerfully._

_"Ah, I'm home… Rin…" He greeted back and she smiled (but she had smiled from the beginning, wasn't she?)._

_She walked back to the comfortable couch and he followed her behind. She realized that the TV was still on, showing that boring show._

_She saw him sat on the couch, so she sat next to him and looked at the TV._

_"Are you watching this?" She asked, somehow unconvinced. Like… It was really-really boring (talk show is boring for Rin—"I don't think we have to watch those people chatting…")!_

_"No," He replied, though his eyes were still glued to the glass screen of the TV, "You don't like the show?"_

_She nodded slowly._

_"Me neither," He said, turning from the TV to her eyes, "…maybe we could so something…"_

_She raised her eyebrow, "And what's that?"_

_Right after she finished speaking, suddenly he pushed her to the couch, making her lying on it while he was on top of her._

_She looked up, but she couldn't see his face because of the lack of light (right, she hadn't turned on the light—indeed, the show was really boring, wait… It had nothing to do with the light… She just forgot…). Because of that, she couldn't really see what was actually happening._

_Then she felt something soft on her lips._

_"Hwhat?" She asked, voice slightly muffled while feeling confused. She wanted to say something but she couldn't, something _was locked_ on her lips like a what, making her unable to speak._

_And…_

_She closed her eyes as she felt a strange but good sensation of… Something she didn't know in her mouth…_

_When 'the thing' had broken the 'lock on her lips', she realized something…_

_"L-Len, did you just k-kissed… M-me?"_

_He tilted his head to a side, "You want more?"_

_…that voice didn't sound like…_

_She could feel her face burning when he kissed her _passionately, again_._

_A minute passed._

_She tried to break free from the kiss. Knowing this, he broke the kiss._

_"But Rin, it's better if we do something more," He said._

_"S-something w-what?" She asked, still stuttering from the embarrassment._

_He pulled something from nowhere and she widened her eyes as she saw the 'pulled' thing._

_Somehow she could _feel_ his smirk, "Let's do it."_

_But after he said that, a loud, annoying voice broke their awkward moment (at least for her, it was _really_ awkward)._

Rin opened her eyes just to see the ceiling, the previous ringing voice was still ringing on the background. The alarm?

A blush was visible on her face, "D-dream? What the hell is that?"

* * *

7. Cone

Rin walked carefully to the kitchen to take some food since it was breakfast time already. A single orange was enough though…

Smelling a scent of a well-cooked-food, somehow she knew she wasn't going to eat _only_ orange for breakfast.

There came a voice of _a certain someone_, "Morning, Rin,"

Rin blushed at the thought of her… _Not good_ dream. Actually what happened there in the dream? Was Len going to…

Do _that_?

She thought of f***ing a teacher easily, but she wasn't sure that being f***ed would be the same…

"A…" She opened her mouth, letting a random syllable to escape from her mouth. "A…" She repeated once more.

"'A…'?" He tilted his head, not understanding her at all. In _that_ awkward state, she still could see the food on the plate that he held.

"Do…" She looked down, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Doyouwantto—"

"Can you repeat that please?" He asked with that formal language.

She took a deep breath and tried to speak again, "W-well… I said…" She trailed off. Was she going to ask _that_ to him? What was the reason?

'That was just a dream, okay Rin…'

'But I'm curious!'

'Why I'm curious then…?'

'Will the 'real Len' do that…?'

'GAH! Stop thinking like that!'

Maybe to prove it, she would ask him about that thing he (Len in the dream) pulled out.

_That_ thing that people usually use when doing 'that', so no child would be... Produced.

'But I can't!'

'You can, Rin ･ω･'

'Who and what are you doing in my head?'

"Well… I am going to ask about…" She began again, feeling _more_ unsure about her success.

"D-do you have a c-con—" She stuttered again, though she didn't (really) care at that time.

"Con?" He asked.

"C-con…"

Then he tilted his head, "Cone?"

"C-c-cond…"

"Conditioner?"

She shook her head, "C-cond… Condo—"

Silence.

10 seconds.

20 seconds.

30 seconds…

"Con—" She started, just to repeat the 'condo' thing.

"Condo…m?" He asked, somehow unsure.

That word (somehow) made Rin (practically) froze and face became redder (if that even possible), "Uh… Yeah, that…"

"No… I don't need that…" He replied (casually) while proceeding to the table to put the food.

Rin widened her eyes and yelled while accusing a finger to him, "S-so you want to make me pregnant!"

His face turned red, "W-what do you mean? I won't!"

* * *

8. Do It!

Rin didn't do anything right after Len's sort-of-statement… Until some seconds, "So you want-not and will not?"

"Uh, yes." He said as he set the plate on the table. "What makes you ask something like that?"

She was walking to the table, and that question made her halt.

"Nothing…" She mumbled lowly as she continued to walk.

"…because of your dre—" He spoke but then she cut him by turning so she could face him and made an ｘ like shape with her hands.

"About reading my mind," She said, "Anytime but now."

"…huh?"

"Oh, nothing…" She said and she finally sat on the chair with food in front of her.

Just when she was going to eat, a crazy thought came.

'Maybe if I do _that_, I'll get into _some_ trouble_s_!'

"Anyway…" Rin suddenly spoke. Len, who thought the conversation was over, tilted his head.

He should stop doing that to stay alive. To survive from the Kagamine Rin.

Ignoring the killing intention (from the cuteness), Rin continued, "It's okay if you do _that_… No, it'll be **good** if you do… With me! Right, do it!"

"I've said I won't!"

* * *

~~Naughty Rin XD

...but this chapter is a **fail** *crying at the corner*

Actually I want to make _only_ a single chapter of this drabble (?) collection, but it's too long. I was planning to make... 20 drabbles or so, but turned out to be like... This. After all, who wants to read **a chapter** of drabble collection that almost reach 7,000 words? Have no choice but cutting it into parts like this ^^

The ideas of this chapter (and the previous and previous chapter)... Came when I was away from the computer last March... Eheheh~

Waaa, reviews~! Thank you for giving me reviews... I'm really happy... And also, thank you for whoever reading this!

Which one is better? This format or the usual one? I might add another collection near the end of the story if someone likes it... But if no one does, then no ^^ *lazy*

Again, thank you!


	21. Chapter 21: Realizing

~~I'm tired... Maybe I'll fall asleep if I close my eyes now...

Too lazy to update, and I only have four chapter... So I have to continue first before updating... But I'm too lazy to continue...

This is the end—

* * *

"One month," He said while entering the room, his shoes making a rhythmical tapping as he walked near the window where a woman with a long, flowing yellow hair stood.

The woman realized that someone had entered the room. She whipped her head to look at the man, her yellow hair follows. All she gave him was a questioning look. She added something about a minute after he spoke, "…yes."

None of them said a thing after that, that was until the yellow-woman spoke, "I think there's something wrong with sending Hatsune-san and Akita-san together, they don't even get along well,"

The man didn't break his stare to the woman with his violet-colored irises, "I already planned to send Hatsune-san alone, as for Akita-san… It's a punishment for being disrespectful to Kagamine-sama,"

The woman smiled, "She's a teenager, Kamui-san. No need to be that harsh to her… But I'm glad that you didn't send Hatsune-san alone. It'll be lonely,"

Gakupo just had another reason to 'kick Neru out' from that place, so he said it, "She still works here, then nothing's wrong with sending her. But if I asked a passerby, it'll be wrong,"

"Still, they are _girls_ who you asked, Kamui-san… Isn't that too… Strange, I mean, usually it's the male one who should do the searching… And it's a month already…" She thought for a moment before continuing speaking, "But it was strange from the beginning… Missing…"

"A ruler missing… That's really unexpected," Then he continued, "But no, it's like… Planned all along, as if he went away purposely…"

The woman eyed him with a slight dislike look, "He won't do something like that, Kamui-san… I know him more than anyone does,"

Gakupo gave her a tired look, "…Masuda-san, he's your—"

Masuda Lily quickly clamped her gloved hand on Gakupo's mouth, "Ssshhh… No need to mention that, okay?"

Gakupo looked at Lily strangely.

"Besides, he doesn't remember that."

* * *

Chapter 21

* * *

_From Rin:_

_"Orangeeeeee~ -Rin"_

_From Rin:_

_"I need orangeeeee~ -Rin"_

_From Rin:_

_"ORANGE! –Rin"_

_From Rin:_

_"Hey, anyone there? Hellooo? Hellooo? –Rin"_

_From Rin:_

_"You better answer this message or I'll kill you! –Rin"_

_From Rin:_

_"SERIOUSLY, ANSWER MEEEE! –Rin"_

"Why no one's answering…" Rin said to herself while pouting. She was walking back to her house after school, alone as usual. Gumi lives not that far, but the direction was different, Teto went somewhere before getting home, probably buying something in the convenience store… She had no choice but walking alone.

…or did she have to find another friend, so she didn't have to walk alone? But making friend just because of that… Didn't sound that good… One main point: Rin _is_ still a good girl.

The wind just strangely strong, but somehow Rin felt relieved. That wind reduces the summer heat. But it was too strong, if she bring some paper with her, it mustn't be in her hands anymore, but blown by the wind.

Because of its strength, Rin's huge bow blown away by the wind, successfully landed on some dirty soil.

"Now, it's dirty," She said, while taking the bow and put it in her bag. No way she would wear that dirty thing…

She continued to walk forward, voices of leaves hitting each other filled her ear. Relaxing, yes. But Rin wasn't into that calm and peaceful world, she chose put on her white headphone and turned on the player, playing a random music. Now the voices of leaves couldn't reach her ears anymore, but she didn't care.

Though she did care when she heard a loud yelling of some girls behind her.

* * *

"Ah, this road again…" Miku said while examining her surrounding, green trees everywhere, where she got the 'relaxing feeling' previously. She still felt relaxed being there, despite the truth that she 'exploded'—even worse then Neru, she was going to kill Meiko—in the previous night.

Neru just didn't give any reply, her fingers didn't stop from typing in the phone. She didn't even notice that Miku was looking at her… No, at her phone.

"You type much faster than me…" She commented. Neru gave a frustrated grunt, knowing that Miku had started to commenting things; that was completely useless.

Miku pulled out her phone without Neru knowing it, began to type a message and sent it to Neru. Some moments passed, until Neru's phone beeped (her phone just didn't even stop beeping, can imagine how fast did she text?) and she raised an eyebrow while reading the message.

_From Miku:_

_"Hello \(^o^)/ -Miku"_

"…what?" She finally let a voice escape from her mouth after muting for some minutes.

"…whoa, that caught your attention…" Miku said, somehow impressed.

And finally Neru faced Miku, "And what do you want?"

"Atte—no, nothing," Miku said, while shuffling the contents of her bag, unconsciously began to walk faster without even looking at the road.

Neru just followed Miku's pace of walking, didn't pay any attention to the being-stepped-road as well.

"…you know, the 'accidentally stolen' headphone is still with me," Miku said randomly, probably noticing that the headphone was still in her bag. "What should I do with this?"

"You want to give it back?" Neru said without looking, "That scary-looking man will just kill you,"

Miku thought for a moment, then come up with a "Right,"

Neru raised an eyebrow, although she knew that Miku wouldn't see it, "…Where's your usual 'fighting-for-the-justice-self'? I think you'll give your life for the right thing…"

Miku smiled darkly, "Whoo, I'm obviously not. Besides, we can't die anyway…"

She pulled the headphone out from her bag, making small things (like clips, hair bands, etc.) 'popped' out from the bag.

"Whoops," Miku said, looking back at her fallen belonging, the stopped walking.

Neru had been walked behind Miku, so when she stopped, Neru accidentally hit her who was going to head back.

"Hey, watch out…" Neru yelled at her.

"Oh, sorry… I didn't mean it… Of course I didn't…" Miku said, more to herself than to Neru. She bent down to pick her small accessories.

Having an awkwardly long hair isn't good at all.

When Miku bent down, she stepped on her own silky-teal hair and tripped (no one knows how), making her landed on the hot road (thanks to the hot weather) after letting out a loud shriek.

"Gah, how stupid!" Neru yelled after seeing Miku tripped down because of her hair.

"At least help me or what… Not yelling like that!" Miku yelled back, her mood turned back because of the fall-off.

Neru turned back to her phone, "Hmph."

After getting up from the fall, Miku saw someone was staring at them confusedly.

Someone with a shoulder length blonde hair, emerald eyes…

* * *

Rin looked back just to see a girl with a **long** teal colored twin-tail, looking at her like she didn't come from earth. Near that girl, stood another girl, shorter than the previous girl with yellow side-ponytail, who didn't notice her stare at all—she was looking at her phone while typing.

After a moment passed, Rin finally asked, "What are you doing?"

The teal haired girl had her moth hung open, not doing or saying anything. Rin just didn't understand that girl. Rin was 100% sure that she came from the earth and living at the same place until that moment. Obviously, she _isn't_ an alien! Or maybe there was something on her face? Something that shouldn't be on her was there?

Rin gave her a more-puzzled-look, but the teal-girl didn't do anything else besides letting her mouth hung open. Seriously, what was wrong with that girl…

Apparently, the yellow haired girl (who had been looking at her phone when the teal haired girl fell and when she gave Rin that weird look) finally noticed her presence. She looked at her for 0.001 second before looking back to the phone, muttering a "Hi Len," with a small but clear voice, so Rin managed to catch the words.

Rin finally understood, so that was a misunderstanding? "…okay, but I'm not Len. If you're looking for him, he's probably buying something in the store because we're out of them…"

Then a 'something' struck in Rin's head, ringing like a bell, "Wait, you know him?"

Strangely the teal-haired girl still didn't move, so the yellow girl decided to speak up, "If that person's 'working' well, she would be asking the same thing," She explained, pointing to the still-on-the-ground girl.

* * *

Rin had asked them to come to her house, talking about that would be really awkward if done in the middle of the road. Not that there were many car passed, but it was just strange to talk there. Besides they could be more relaxed in the house.

Currently they were sitting in the living room, where Rin usually eats her oranges carelessly (no, she wasn't doing that at that time). But for Rin, it was still awkward.

Apparently the teal-girl had 'worked' well (as if she was a robot), so she began the conversation, "Um… Let us explain. I'm Hatsune Miku and she's Akita Neru," She said, giving a glance to the yellow-girl—known as Neru—who was still texting someone Miku doesn't know. Then she elbowed the texting girl, "Isn't it impolite to text while visiting someone's house?"

"It's okay, Hatsune-san… Besides I don't really mind," Rin said.

"But no," Miku continued, snatching the phone from Neru's hand and closed the flap shut, earning an annoyed look from Neru. "Anyway, we want to ask something…"

Rin thought that it was going to be a difficult and serious talk. Despite the condition, Rin was happy. _Very_ happy. Serious talk means trouble, right?

She had been waiting for something like this…

"So, what are you going to ask?" Rin asked, smile was clearly formed on her lips. She was going to hide the excitement and acted serious, but she just couldn't. That was too good to be true.

"It's about…" Miku trailed off as her eyes traveled to every corner in the room. Then she stopped completely.

Neru sighed as she put her arm on the armrest so she could lean her head there, "Continue please…"

Miku snapped out from her thought, "Right! Erm… It's about…"

Then Neru took her role to speak, "We're looking for Len. Miku, it's not that hard to say something like that…"

"I'm trying to give a good explanation first, don't go straight to the point!" Miku hissed, feeling annoyed of Neru, "So yes, we're looking for him."

Rin didn't understand those people at all, "Why are you looking for him anyway?"

"We were asked," Miku smiled friendly.

Then Rin asked something that had been bugging her mind for a while, "And how did you know him?"

"_Every single being knows him_," Neru said, feeling something bitter on her tongue.

"But I want to ask about you," Miku said in that polite language, "How did you—ah, may I ask your name?"

Then Rin realized that she hadn't told her name, "Kagamine Rin,"

Rin didn't understand why, the tension became more… Awkward as she mentioned her name.

Miku's eyed widened, "You're—"

Neru couldn't help but noticed a yellow phone lying innocently on the table. Miku took her phone, so she couldn't text. But that yellow phone looked very… Innocent, so she wanted to open the flap, looking at the contacts, reading every single message, trying the games, looked the history of the browser so she could know what she/he opened recently, or use it to text someone.

"I'm his 'sister'," Rin said, air-quoting the sister part, "That's what I said to every human being,"

Rin thought those people _know_ about what Len _is_ (something she didn't), so it was okay to tell the truth that… "I _found_ him here, in this living room."

"…" Miku didn't say anything, seemed like she was processing the information in her head. She came up with something about 10 seconds later, "…then?"

"Then it was a greeting and you know what I mean…" Rin waved her hand, motioning a 'something like that', smile still on her face.

It was Miku's turn to give Rin a questioning look, "But if I'm not wrong, you're—"

None of that conversation entered Neru's ears. She was just too focused to 'pick up the phone and let's see what's inside'. In fact, the phone attracted her. Curiosity built up in her, then a gut came from somewhere, telling her to take the phone. 'It's okay, no one sees it!' A voice said—no, _yelled_—in her mind.

Neru began to move her hand that had been leaned by her head to take the phone. She moved her hand slowly, and slowly, so no one (either Miku or Rin) would see that she was taking someone else's phone.

But when her hand was a centimeter away from the phone, a hand picked up the phone before she did, much for her surprise. She let out an "Ah—!" as she pulled back her hand. She looked up to the person who picked the phone and—

Noticing someone, Rin turned her head from Miku to someone who was standing there, phone in his hand. It was Len.

Then the three of them stared at him without any noises. As the stare made him more uncomfortable, he stepped back and apologized, "So-sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you and your friends, Rin… I just forgot my phone…"

Rin eyed him, "You're done? When did you come back… I didn't hear anything…"

"I've put the groceries in the kitchen, I have to go now… Sakine-san will…" Then he left without finishing the sentence.

Miku just left dumbfounded there, and Neru felt more annoyed than ever. Her 'pick up the phone and let's see what's inside' plan had failed miserably. Then she muttered in low voice, "Wooot, he doesn't recognize us," sarcasm filling the mutter. Then she added, "I'm not your friend, Kagamine," that made Rin pouted a bit.

Miku finally blinked her eyes after Rin waved her hand in front of her face. After blinking, Miku looked at Rin who still held that smile on her lips.

"I hadn't told you that he didn't remember anything… Well, now I have…"

* * *

"You're trying to say that he's a missing person from your place?" Rin asked.

"Yes," Miku nodded.

"…the two of you are looking for him?"

"Yes," She nodded again.

"…you want to get him back?"

"Yes,"

"But that's something I don't know!" Rin suddenly exclaimed and threw her hands up, "Are you really _really _looking for him? Or you're just a crazy fangirl who want him so much until doing something like this?"

"But we're really looking for him! Kamui-san asked us to!" Miku exclaimed back.

"And where's the proof?" Rin asked back.

Miku couldn't say anything more, so Neru filled in with her useless comment, "Right, we don't have any."

"So?" Rin asked, grin on her face. A point for Kagamine Rin!

"I want to ask something else," Miku said, "Do you know how did he get here, in this room without passing any doors or windows?"

Rin looked—strangely—shocked at this, "He _didn't_?"

"…ah," Miku continued, "Maybe we can explain something to you about him…"

"Cross that Miku, _you_ can explain that," Neru added.

Miku sighed, "Okay, so… Any strange thing from… _Him_?"

Rin put on her thinking pose, "Well, he healed my bleeding finger,"

"Then…?"

"He could _fly_,"

"…continue,"

"It's strange that she still thinks that it's normal…" Neru muttered, receiving a smack from Miku.

"…and flowers grew up again when he picked it up."

Miku looked confused at this, "…what was that last thing?"

Rin widened her eyes, "Eh? It's not supposed to be like that?"

"Well, I don't know," Miku smiled. "Anyway, what do you think he is?"

'What a strange question…' Rin thought, but she had to answer Miku's question, so she thought for a while and answered her, "I doubt it's human."

"Right, we're not human, the same as him." Miku said straightly

Rin tilted her head, the conversation was getting stranger… "Alien that came from the space,"

Miku sweat-dropped (if that even possible) and Neru literally 'fall off', "We're not,"

Rin's face lit up after that, "Ghost!"

"Noo!" Miku exclaimed in stress.

"Then what?" Rin asked, her cheery face went somewhere and replaced with the un-Rin one.

Miku looked away, "It's… Pretty hard to explain…" then she faced back to Rin, "…But are you sure you don't know Kaga—no, L—ah… Le—aah? Kagami—"

Neru looked up to Miku who was debating to herself (because referring him as 'Kagamine-sama' wasn't that good in front of another 'Kagamine', just her opinion though).

"—you know who I mean!" Miku suddenly exclaimed, getting sick of her self-debate.

"I think it's just strange, though. He _do_ look like me…" Rin said.

"…only that?" Miku asked, unsure about the answer she got.

"Yes?" Rin asked back, "What do you expect?"

"Ah, nothing…"

"But," Rin suddenly continued, "I _see_ his name often. You know, why parents are dead, and usually I visit their grave… Maybe twice or three times a month. Well… Near my parents' grave, there's… Someone else's grave. I don't know who _he_ is, but judging from _his_ name, I think he's someone… Related to me…"

Interested with the topic, Miku who had been looking away from Rin to things in the house—she just stared at them like she hadn't see any of those before—looked back at Rin, straight to the eyes.

"His name is Kagamine Len. That's all,"

Miku smiled, 'It's clear already, then,' she patted Rin's shoulder while getting up from her sitting position, Neru followed her to stand. Then Miku whispered something into Rin's ears. At first Rin flinched a bit, but getting used with the whisper, "Have a nice thinking moment," after Miku said that, she smiled to Rin and greeted, "Well, we have a nice chat didn't we? It's time for us to leave, or Shion-san will be killed by Meiko-san…"

Rin followed them to the door to say goodbye or something like that. Miku waved her hand and Rin waved back (while Neru back to her phone, finally Miku gave it back to her).

After saying goodbyes, Rin get back into the house and closed the door shut. The conversation was over, but Rin couldn't stop thinking about what Miku had said earlier, thinking moment? What should she think about?

But yes, since Miku gave her that _smile_, she couldn't stop thinking about what Len is.

Rin didn't understand the conversation at all.

They weren't looking because they were asked to. That wasn't the main reason.

The correct question is, 'Why they were asked to find him?' Is something wrong with him?

Think of an item. Why we search for an item? It's probably because we need it and we can't find it anywhere.

'It's a 'we need him, but we can't find him anywhere'…' Rin thought to herself. So Len was a missing person? From where?

Thinking too much wouldn't be good for her, so she walked to her room (no, not the living room) then flopped to the bed.

But she couldn't stop thinking about that.

Meeting Miku and Neru for a simple half an hour bringing much trouble (_problem_) for her.

Then she realized something, her eyes widened at this.

It was wrong.

It was _really_ wrong.

Rin thought having a trouble (in this case, problem) would be good and she would be happy getting them. But…

"No, it's all wrong…" She muttered to herself, voice muffled because of the pillow she buried her head to, "I'm not happy at all."

"If he's a missing person, so Hatsune and Akita would take him somewhere… Away from me?"

"I don't want that,"

"I don't want Len to leave me,"

"I don't…"

* * *

"It was strange… That was the first time someone close to me died… Maybe because of that, I can't forget it…" She spoke. If anyone saw her, they would think she was talking to herself, but the truth is she didn't. She talked to someone in front of her while twirling a single flower in her hand.

But really… It was just her in that place at that moment…

"_BEEP—"_

She blinked in surprise as she heard her phone beeped, then she opened the new message.

_From Miya:_

_"You better get home or I'll rip your precious collection of manga –Gumiya"_

"What…" She muttered, thinking of a method that will threaten him.

And found none, but maybe if he cooked something for her…

_To Miya:_

_"But make a carrot soup for me __･__ω__･__–__Gumi"_

_From Miya:_

_"Okay okay… -Gumiya"_

She closed her phone, feeling satisfied. Then she stood up, straightening her crumpled and dirtied skirt.

She laughed nervously, "My brother _forced _me to get back home. Well… I'll come again… I don't know when, but I will. So…" She grinned, "Bye, Len."

She dropped the flower and went away.

* * *

~~I want to sleep...

Ah, right. This is the end of Rin's 'trouble seeking job'... And Lily's name comes from... The voice provider.

...please do something to make me update faster... But anyway, sorry for my not-good-English...

...almost forgot, thank you.


	22. Chapter 22: Hatsune

~~I'm here to update when I haven't even continued... orz

The previous chapter is a fail... Rin texted everyone but no one replied, she met Miku and Neru who mistook her as Len, then the chat blablablah... Then at the end Gumi visited Len (that other Len who had died)... She already visited him in chapter 14 and—

...I'm confused.

The last third of this chapter was typed with my phone (that kind of phone where you have to press the '2' button twice to get the letter b...) and frustration because of my failed attempt to play the piano (I mean, keyboard)... I was really bored because I can't use my computer at that time... Ehehe?

Gah! This story gets confusing... But enjoy this chapter which contains... Miku and... Mikuo and... Len? Ah, whatever...

Ah, that's long... S-sorry...

* * *

"Want me to help you again?"

I looked up to the voice from the book, "What?"

She pointed to herself, "I help you," then she pointed at me, "Erm, we haven't done it for a while… Maybe you want to know more?"

I didn't say anything, I just stared at her for some moment of silence. Not getting any replies, she decided to speak up.

"…no?"

I tilted my head to a side, "…maybe not now."

I didn't know what was in her mind, but somehow she was relieved, the reason was unknown for me.

She walked outside the not-so-big living room (no, not going to say small), before she did that, she tapped my shoulder once.

"Did you ever think of something… Sometimes you don't need to remember," She whispered near my ear, and with that she left.

I turned back so I could catch her leaving figure, but the only thing I saw was some strands of her blond hair before it disappeared completely from my eyes.

I was supposed to think about her previous words, but the truth was I didn't. I thought of her.

No.

Kagamine Rin wasn't that type of person who would seek for a trouble, she will stay away from them.

Her mission about getting trouble…

Wasn't what her heart asked her to do.

Something must be _happened_ before, something that made her to do those things.

Though I noticed that something was unusual with her at that day. Because all she did is pasting a note on the refrigerator door, telling that she went to the beach with Kasane-san and Nakajima-san.

Leaving a note just wasn't her at all.

And I was sure that she wouldn't drown anyone.

* * *

Chapter 22

* * *

'Crap! When I thought this is the day when I could relax outside the house, it isn't!' He thought, adding some curses at the end of his sentence as he ran as fast as he could.

Currently, he was running to the train in the train station. He really needed to get back home because… He wanted to. But really, the thought of going somewhere outside the little town where he lived wasn't good from the beginning. All he needed was a view of beautiful scenery. Why beautiful scenery? He really didn't know why, apparently staying home after school like, _everyday_ wasn't good for his body and _especially_, his mind.

But what happened after viewing the 'beautiful scenery' wasn't please him at all. He could see the train's door was going to close like, 10 more seconds. And he was still there, running as fast as he could as the train's door was closing carelessly.

Now, who's to curse? Of course, he knew that buying the Negi that were in sale was the main reason he _almost_ miss the train. But no! It wasn't his fault! Now let's curse the convenience store… Wait, the convenience store doesn't even alive, he couldn't blame it!

Then, who was he talking to? Himself? But it really wasn't his fault for having an unsorted mind…

Hatsune Mikuo left his house to have a walk and 'viewing beautiful scenery', that's one. The second one is, his eyes spotted something leek-y and he couldn't help but buying it. Third, because of buying it, he _nearly_ missed the train.

…he shouldn't think about it too much, he should concentrate on running so he wouldn't hit any poor passerby who… Passed by.

Mikuo thought that he had hit someone, and he wouldn't care. Unless if he tripped and ended sitting on the shiny floor.

Which was true, he hit someone and he fell down as well. Apparently, the person who he hit was bringing many sheets of paper and thanks to him, the sheets were scattered everywhere.

Mikuo mumbled a sorry and ready to go, but the train just went away right in front of his eyes. The previously scattered paper sheets were now flying here and there caused by the wind that the train had made.

But the most important thing was, Mikuo missed the train. He had to wait for…

3 more hours.

"NOO! I was planning on getting home at 15 but—aaaaaaaaaahh!" He yelled frustrated-ly, his hands were hitting the floor again and again, receiving weird look from some random passerby, not that he care.

"Excuse me…" Someone mumbled, so Mikuo raised his head up and see someone was trying to catch the flying paper sheets.

Right, he forgot about him (yes, it was a boy, indeed). Having nothing else to do, he decided to help the poor boy to catch his flying paper. It _was_ his fault, after all.

Mikuo collected some paper—he noticed that it was a bunch of music sheets—then handed it to the yellow-haired boy who was wearing some-sort of hat or cap, "Here, sorry I hit you before, I was catching the train so…"

The boy looked back him and gave a deadly glare, "I missed the train,"

Mikuo didn't know have to say what, so he just gave a "Well… Okay?"

For the rest of the time, that boy re-collected the paper and re-arranging them. Mikuo just silently watched. After finished collecting, that boy (it was getting annoying calling the boy like that, even for Mikuo) sat on the nearest 'place to sit'.

…right, he missed the train as well.

Mikuo decided to sit beside the boy—although he knew that the boy was pissed off because of his action of bumping into him, nothing nice at all and he had the right to shoo him away anytime he want. _Luckily_, that boy seemed to be busied with _another_ sheet of paper (which came out from nowhere), as he wrote something in that paper with notes and notes, Mikuo was invisible for him.

Mikuo glanced at him for some moment, thinking of something. Looking from the boy's appearance, he's nowhere older than Mikuo himself—he's 16, yes. And he was writing something music-y? Song writer?

Although what was bugging Mikuo the most at that moment was… He had to wait for 3 more hours…

So he just ate the Negi silently while cursing himself.

At least he had some Negi with him.

* * *

"One strawberry ice cream!" Someone shouted.

"Right~" Someone else replied back, taking the order and went to the table to serve them.

"Orange!"

"Sure, here!"

"Er… Are you sure _this_ is in the menu list?"

"Eh… What do you mean?"

"This…" A waitress pointed at the notes of orders, "I mean, _Negi-flavored_ ice cream? Is that even edible?"

Miku's eyes lit up hearing the word 'Negi', so she looked up to the speaker and asked politely, "Sure, I will take the order to the customer,"

The person looked back to her, "Oh, Hatsune-san! Sure, take that…"

Miku skipped and went to take the **Negi** ice cream, saying a quick 'thank you' to the girl.

"Hatsune-san, take the orange one as well! Table 16!"

"Right!"

While walking to the table, she thought of the person who ordered the Negi ice cream. Everyone would think that the suspicious-colored ice cream is 100% inedible (especially the Negi one), why there was someone who ordered it? Miku thought she is the only Negi-lover in the _world_. Maybe he or she only wants to try another taste of ice cream?

'Even though like that, I don't think anyone would take Negi as their choice. They're not Hatsune Miku, right?' She thought while wondering something. What would the other 'Negi lover' looks like.

Once she reached the table, she smiled. Then she said the usual line while putting the order, "Here's your order, a Negi-flavored ice cream… This is the best menu we have here, from selected Negi and made into this delicious ice cream," she added some cheesy line because it was a Negi ice cream that the person ordered, promotion like that had to be done. She smiled really wide, really wide until her eyes closed because of that.

She was going to smile again, but once she opened her eyes, she froze.

* * *

Finally he could get home!

Hatsune Mikuo could get home after waiting in the station for some _freaking_ hours!

But since he got down from the train at about 4 pm, he thought of doing something else before getting home.

What?

But still, his guilt from hitting that boy before was still there—Mikuo hardly ever feels that, something strange was happening at that moment that made him like _that_. Who cares about a boy around his age? They could do whatever they want.

Right, he hadn't receive any sign that his apologize was accepted. No, zero… No.

Mikuo decided to follow _that_ strange person, not caring about the truth that might lead to misunderstanding like being a gay-stalker; he's not a stalker, thank you.

That person didn't seem to notice him, but only at the beginning. Once Mikuo realized that they were walking into a small alley, he (that person) turned and asked, "May I ask why you're following me?" Oh, so he's really a he, Mikuo doubted that for a moment—sorry, really sorry.

Whoa, Mikuo _really_ didn't except that, "I'm not following you, I just want to get there," He lied, pointing to whatever in front of him.

"You're lying," He said as he turned away and continue walking.

Mikuo grunted, "Fine fine, I feel bad about hitting you before and you miss your train—I miss mine as well, we're going to the same place after all—okay, so maybe I could do something?" Mikuo just didn't know how those words could get out from his mouth. Right after he finished 'explaining', the alley ended and the small path began to widen. At the end of the 'road' was an adorable café.

Mikuo cursed himself for being really strange in that day.

"Right, maybe… Drinking?" Mikuo suggested, he had no idea in his mind.

That person just didn't reply. He opened the door and walked in, then he sat on the nearest chair (sofa?).

Mikuo just stood there unmoving.

"Um, just… Sit," That person said, pointing to another chair (or sofa?) in front of him.

"Oh right, so it's okay?" Mikuo asked.

He nodded and began to write something on the paper again. God, could he stop?

After having himself being sit, Mikuo introduce himself—he needed to say something or the whole drinking moment will be awkward, "I'm Hatsune Mikuo, anyway,"

"Hm," He muttered, not looking up from his paper at all.

"…And?"

_Finally_ that person looked up to him, "Oh—sorry… Kagamine,"

Mikuo had learned that the person's last name is Kagamine and the first is…

He waited.

But nothing came.

"No, I'm not going to say it," He suddenly said, startling Mikuo a bit.

Nah, to shorten it, the rest of that was awkward. A waitress came to give the menu list and take the order. Mikuo chose a Negi ice cream because… Okay? He like—no, _love_ Negi and it was his first time he saw something that… Scary.

Right, even for the Negi lover, that Negi ice cream was scary.

"Kagamine-san?" Mikuo called out, startling the said person who was busy with writing something—really, he should stop.

"What?" Kagamine asked back, really…

"…order?" Mikuo asked (again) unsurely.

"Er… Orange juice?" He said. The waitress wrote down the order and left.

Not so long after that, another waitress came with the ordered order. That one had an extremely long and thick teal twin-tail…

Mikuo had seen her before, but where…?

She smiled and said, "Here's your order, a Negi-flavored ice cream… This is the best menu we have here, from selected Negi and made into this delicious ice cream," but after saying that, her smiling face changed with a shocked one.

Mikuo and that girl were having an awkward moment of staring at each other—they looked _alike_, it was practically like seeing a reflection in the mirror.

He was right, he had seen her before… Right…

Right?

"Mikuo…" She said, the shocked face was still there.

Sooo, she _knows_ him? That girl must be…

"Mi-Miku?" He asked unsurely—of course unsurely! What do you say if you meet your _dead_ sibling?

Indeed, that was Miku and she was giving an annoyed look, "…what are you doing here?"

* * *

It was really Mikuo! Mikuo was the one who ordered the Negi ice cream!

"…what are you doing here?" She asked. From what she had seen, Mikuo was the type of person who would stay inside his home sweet home for the rest of his life. Then what was he doing there in the Rainbow Ice café?

"I'm the one who should say that!" Mikuo retorted, "I know you're _dead_ Miku… If it's not clear enough, I'll repeat it again, _dead_! You know you're the one who shouldn't be here, unless if you're not Miku!"

Miku looked surprised because of this, "But I thought I've visited your house about a week ago?"

Mikuo thought a bit before answering, "When I was watching the TV and you blocked me?"  
"Exactly!" Miku yelled, rivaling his near-yelling voice.

"But that was a dream!" Mikuo was now yelled at her.

"That's not a dream! I really visited you house with Neru—you know, that yellow haired girl who was busy with her phone? Right!"

"So, why you're here? You haven't answered my question!"

"I have to do something, okay? But I have no time to explain that! You can see it by your very own eyes that I'm working!"

Mikuo grumbled, "Fine, just go back to work, Fake Miku,"

Miku looked taken aback with that, "I am not fake, really! Actually you're the one who should be glad of seeing your dead sibling again!" She yelled again.

"Fine whatever Miku!" Mikuo yelled back _again_, "Just go back to your work or whatever is that!"

"Okay okay, I'll go back to work!" Miku yelled, "Here, the orange juice for…" And she just realized that Mikuo had someone sitting in front of him, and that person was…

"Seriously Mikuo, I don't know what's in your mind right now, but what **are** you doing with Kagamine-sama?"

Mikuo rose an eyebrow, completely confused while the said person—Len, yes, him—looked up from the stack of paper hearing his name being mentioned.

"I what?"

"What are you doing here with… Aaaahh!" Miku ended the sentence with a frustrated yell.

"Um… Hatsune-san…" Len said with a low voice after Miku had ended her yell, making both of the Hatsune to turn their heads to him, "Be… Polite… To the customer… Um, please?" He mouthed to Miku.

Strangely, Miku's rage just disappeared into nothing after that and replaced with a smile on her face, "Okay, I hope the two of you enjoy our ice and drink today~" She said nicely and sweetly, "But I need to talk about something with Kagamine-sama so bye~!" She said as she went away, pulling Len with her.

Mikuo blinked—girly yes but whatever—and muttered, "…what the hell...?"

* * *

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry I pulled you here Kagamine-sama…" Miku was saying a bunch of apologize while bowing to the blond-boy, "I need to tell you something…"

"But first of all... Why are you calling me Kagamine-sama?" Len cut her.

She looked away for some milliseconds, "Because I have to? Anyway, we have to go back quickly, the time's running,"

He tilted his head in confusion, "Huh? Go back? Where?"

"I have no time to explain, but we should really go, 2 weeks left and everything will be over..." That sounded bad for Miku, even though she was the one who said that...

"Wait, I don't know what you are talking about—"

"I've said I have no time to explain, we'll explain this later, but first we have to go…"

"Stop it," He commanded (at least to Miku, he sounded well... Commanding) "You make me confused. Just… Actually, who are you?"

Miku didn't answer his question bluntly and straightly. She really had to think about that twice-no, more than 10 times if necessary-to make everything goes well. "I am…" She started but she didn't know what to say after that.

Luckily, he spoke instantly after that, "…you came to Rin's house some days ago… I think…"

Miku's face lit up. Sure she could use that, "Well, that's..."

Before she could finish her sentence, someone opened the door, "Damn it, where's that girl..." someone muttered. That mutter made both Miku and Len looked to the door. That voice was unluckily familiar...

A figure entered the room (someone with the usual red outfit—does she have something else other than that rather revealing outfit?—with short brown hair and big –ahem–, you know who I mean), scanned it for a short moment and then spotted Miku, "Hatsune-san, I heard you were yelling to the customer, am I right?"

"Who told you that?" Miku asked casually.

"I asked Akita-san about your whereabouts and she said you were yelling to the customer and nothing else." She stopped talking for a moment. Then she spotted Len.

Wait, why didn't she saw him before? What a ghost…

"And Hatsune-san, what are you doing here with him?" She asked, pointing to the said person, "You're not with her, right?"

"I dragged him here," Miku said as it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then she stood in front of him, like... Defending him, "Don't make him do anything strange, like cross dressing him again... It's my fault, he's not involved."

Soon, the room was filled with awkward silence.

"Well..." Meiko broke the silence, "Better go back to work, Hatsune-san..." and she left the room.

"Ah, right..." Miku mumbled as she walked to the door after Meiko had left. Before she stepped her foot out, she turned back and faced Len, "I don't think the conversation is over, so... If you want some explanation, just come and ask..." she paused for a moment, seeing his blank reaction, "It's complicated when you don't remember anything, eh?"

She was going to walk out from the room when he suddenly called out, "Wait…"

"What's wrong?"

The atmosphere in that room changed suddenly, "Are you… Dead?"

Miku smiled, "Ah…" then she walked out from the room and closed the door.

* * *

Mikuo tapped the table with his fingers, currently had nothing to do since he had finished his ice cream. It was Negi flavored anyway... He couldn't leave the café yet because of... Kagamine, yeah him...

He began to search for something in his degradable plastic bag (hey, go green! Save the environment!) and found Negi.

Oh, right. He forgot about the Negi's existence.

He pulled one fresh Negi from the bag and began to eat it. After biting the heaven vegetable, he spotted a yellow head.

He came to the table and sat across Mikuo once more, though he didn't continue his writing or whatever.

"Want some?" Mikuo offered, holding a certain green-white vegetable (a new one, not the bitten one of course).

Kagamine looked at him and the vegetable for a moment before accepting it. He mumbled a thank you before munching it.

Then Mikuo thought, he and Miku weren't the only ones who like raw Negi...

Oh, _Miku_...

"You know her?" He asked.

Kagamine stopped munching and asked back, "Who?"

"Hatsune Miku,"

"I only met her twice..." Kagamine said and he resumed eating.

"Where?" He asked again. He would be very surprised if there wasn't any suspicious feeling in that yellow boy...

"Uh, she came to... My house… Few days ago?"

"Is that so?"

"Uh, yes?

"What was she doing? Did she come in from nowhere?"

Kagamine blinked, "What?"

"She came to my house from like, nowhere. She just popped up from behind and I am sure I had locked the door. Maybe she came from the window?" Mikuo explained.

"I don't know... I left my phone on the table and I came to take it. There I saw her with my… Sister and a yellow haired girl..."

Mikuo's eyes lit up, "That yellow haired girl with a side pigtail, I assume?"

"Ah, yes?"

"So that 'Miku' came to your house with that yellow-girl as well..."

"...she was going to take my phone when I saw her..." Kagamine said calmly despite the content of the sentence.

It was Mikuo's turn to be confused, "Huh what?"

Suddenly a pitchy voice of a girl entered the conversation, "So you two are talking about me, huh..."

Both Mikuo and Kagamine turned their head to the source of the voice. The said girl with a maid uniform on her—the lace-y one with frilly apron—was standing near their table. She continued, "Well, I don't really care about you two talking about me but I'm here to take the unused things," Then she picked up a bowl which previously was filled by Negi ice cream.

"So, you must know me because of that girl," She said, turning to the teal haired boy. Mikuo assumed she must be talking about a certain teal haired girl so he just nodded.

Then she turned to the other boy, "And you, Len..." she paused a bit, "Don't recognize me, hn? Well, not that I care but it's annoying, better make it quick..." She sighed, "Nah, I'm finished talking," and she left the table.

"So your name is Kagamine Len?" Mikuo asked once that yellow girl had left the table—what's her name anyway? Neru?

There was a glint of annoyment in Len's eyes, "Hn,"

Mikuo tilted his head, "Okay... So, you know her?"

Len shook his head, "I don't... But please stop asking that question."

Ignoring his request, Mikuo raised an eyebrow. That girl seemed to know him well but...

"Maybe I did... Ah, I don't know..." Len suddenly said, looking uncomfortable. "So, you're Hatsune Miku's brother?" He added randomly.

Then it was Mikuo who looked uncomfortable, "Well, I had a younger sister… She looked exactly like that Hatsune Miku, but... My sister had…" He trailed off.

"You don't want to talk about it." Len simply added, "Sorry,"

Mikuo looked amazed (for no reason) by that, "You're right but it's okay, no need to apologize..."

Silence engulfed them for a short moment. Mikuo tried to find something to say so the silence will break, but he found none. That was when he felt thirsty—he hadn't drunk anything since he ate the Negi. He even questioned himself, 'Is that even matter?'

He noticed that the person across him was staring blankly at him. He couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

"Want this?" Len said as he pushed the glass of orange juice closer to Mikuo.

Mikuo looked at the juice. Sure the juice looked fresh, delicious and pleasing...

Wait, how did Len know that he was thirsty?

"Sure, thank you..." he finally answered, pulling the juice closer to him.

Then, how he supposed to drink the juice? Right from the glass or using the straw? Of course he knew that the straw was used but...

Like giving him solution to the problem, Len suddenly stood up and took the straw off the glass. He sat back on his seat and began chewing the tip of the straw.

Mikuo swore that he was staring at the yellow boy with a strange look on his face-something he couldn't describe.

"...what? You're not going to use it right?" was what he got.

Sure, if he uses that straw, it'll be some sort of-uh-indirect kissing...

"Sure, I won't do that anyway..." Mikuo said as he put a sheepish grin.

"It's like an indirect kiss if you do that which means… Ah, we have the same gender…"

Mikuo knew his face turned happy all of sudden—he meant… He didn't even feel that happy but why then? "You're not interested in males then? Me ne—" His voice cut by the circulating air. He really didn't want to admit it, but a certain _male_ in his class did make him felt... Well, that.

"...what about the red haired..." Len added in—again, calmly but had successfully stabbed Mikuo's heart.

He couldn't help but yelled, face red because of embarrassment and anger, "Can you please stop reading my mind?"

He got a confused look in turn, "I am not reading your mind, I assume?"

He sighed to calm himself down and then changed the topic, "Well…"

* * *

~~*cough* Mikuo and Akaito...

B-but Mikuo had a good time with Len... Right? **Right? Eheheheheh...**

...I don't think Len will eat Negi but well... Inspired by Hatsune Mix... Ehehe~

Ah, this story is too predictable... Go on, guess the ending (but I think the ending is still... far away)...

Eh, I still don't understand about the genre of this story and the summary is _horrible_... Maybe someone can help me?

Thank you~~


	23. Chapter 23: More

~~Sorry.

* * *

"Well, have you ever heard about the living dead?"

Rin blinked hearing the strange question, "What's with the random question, Teto-chan?"

Teto looked at Rin with a meaningful look, "This isn't random, Rin-chan… You know, Gumi-chan had been talking about that lately…"

Rin tilted her head in confusement, "…huh?"

Teto put her index finger on her chin, "Well, I don't know… Maybe something happened and it related to that? Just ask Gumi-chan, I don't know the details, of course…"

Rin looked at Gumi who was standing in front of them, "Gumi…"

Gumi looked at the source of the voice, "What—oh, Rin! Just in time, I've finished picking up things, now let's pay for it and go to the beach!"

Rin just nodded and followed Gumi to the cashier.

'…she's not going to ask?' Teto thought.

Gumi paid for the things (which happened to be snacks) and she left the store, Rin and Teto followed behind.

Something was different that time, Rin wasn't talking cheerfully like usual, so the three of them walked to the beach in silence. That was until Teto decided to speak, "Well, what are we going to do at the beach anyway?"

"Um, playing?" Gumi asked, unsure of her answer, "Er, maybe you want to swim?"

"Nah nah, I won't," Teto said.

Gumi looked at Rin (who was strangely 'muted') and asked, "What about you, Rin?"

Realizing that Gumi was talking to her, Rin looked at Gumi and smiled cheerfully, "You know Gumi, I won't drown anyone!"

'What's with that answer?'

* * *

Chapter 23

* * *

"So what are you going to do, Rin-chan?" Teto asked.

Rin put up her thinking pose, "Hm, I think I'll play with the ball… Wait, do we have a ball here?"

"I bring one," Gumi said.

"Oh well, that'll be good…" Rin muttered and didn't say anything else after that.

"…ne, Gumi-chan…" Teto whispered to Gumi's ear, making Gumi flinch a bit, "What's wrong with Rin-chan?"

"I… Don't know," Gumi whispered back, "Something… Happened, or is happening…"

"And what's that?"

"I have no idea,"

"Well, if you want to know, why don't you ask me?" Rin suddenly joined the conversation, making Gumi and Teto jump.

"Then, may I ask you why?" Teto asked.

Gumi smirked, "Well, maybe because of le—" but she couldn't finish her word because Rin's foot ended up stomping hers, so she let out a small yelp.

"About my brother," Rin said bluntly, straightening the topic.

'Then why did you stomp my foot?' Gumi yelled in her head.

"He ate my oranges… Making me think of it…" Rin lied, strangely none of them realized that she was just lying.

"Right? It's because of _lemons_, right? Because Kagamine-kun ate your oranges, you stuck with the lemons…" Gumi said.

"Gumi, stop talking about lemons, please," Rin hissed, and Gumi nodded in understand-ment.

"But Rin-chan…" Teto started, "If he ate your oranges, you can just buy again…"

"Ah whatever… I think this topic is getting nowhere…" Rin said with her annoyed voice. Her eyes turned into a bright once she saw something in front of her eyes, "Hey look, the beach!"

'We know that already…'

* * *

So, they ended like… Rin was playing the ball with Gumi with Teto splashing the two of them for no reason. Seriously, going together, just the three of them, wasn't the best choice at all.

"Being in the water is good, eh?" Rin commented, a smile on her face.

'So, she had changed back to the usual Rin? Oh well…' Gumi thought.

"Sure!" Teto chimed in, "It's fresh! Playing on the beach is the best thing to do in summer besides slacking off!"

"Erm, it doesn't really mean like that…" Gumi muttered, commenting Teto's comment. Then she threw the ball to Rin.

Rin caught the ball and smirked, eyes to the twin-drilled red-head, "Teto-chan, catch!" She exclaimed as she threw the ball to the unprepared Teto. The ball had successfully hit Teto's face.

Teto blushed in embarrassment, "Rin-chan meanie!" She threw the ball back to Rin harshly, then she splashed more water to the blond-haired girl.

"Aw aw, sorry Teto-chan! You should hear my call!" Rin said happily while giggling, trying to block the water with her hands—which wasn't helping at all.

Gumi giggled as well seeing the scene, then she looked away to nowhere, looking at the people who were playing on the beach as well. The beach wasn't as crowded as she had expected, but still, it was crowded. Well, it was the middle of summer where the sun was… _Killing_, so people choose to go to the beach to refresh their self.

Then she realized that a certain red-haired person was staring at her like a… Something.

Wasn't that Miki?

And that red-haired girl suddenly exclaimed loudly, proving that she was—indeed—Miki, "Oooh, green-girl! Nice to meet you again!"

Gumi waved back at Miki unsurely, "O-oh, nice to meet you, M-Miki?"

Both Rin and Teto were aware to a certain red-haired girl's existence so they turned to see her.

Miki was looking around for someone for no reason. Gumi raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

"You're not with your boyfriend, green-girl?" Miki asked casually.

Gumi panicked, she must mean Len. But then, Len _is not_ her boyfriend.

"Uh, my name is Nakajima Gumi… And he's not—" Gumi started but seemed like Miki had found someone else—appeared to be Rin, and Miki was examining her like crazy, making the swimsuit-covered Rin felt self-conscious of herself and dipped herself in the salty water of the sea—making her exclaim something like,

"There he is!" She said with her index finger pointing at Rin who had dipped herself into the water. Then Miki put a shocked look on her face, completed with a fake gasp, "Your _boyfriend_ is a _girl_?"

Oh… No.

"No!" Gumi yelled, "_He_'s not my boyfriend and _she_'s not my 'boyfriend' either! I have none!"

"Um, Gumi… What—" Rin was going to ask but Gumi had started to explain.

"Er, hello Rin…" Gumi looked down at Rin (who was still in the water), "This is… Miki…"

"Furukawa Miki!" Miki continued.

"Uh, yeah… Furukawa Miki," Gumi said, looking at Miki, then turned to Rin, "Um, Furukawa-san is my…"

"I can be your girlfriend if you want! But the yellow girl over there's going to be mad, eh?" Miki said randomly, earning a water attack from Gumi that made her hair wet. Strangely the ahoge stand still on its place.

"She's not my friend _or_ my girlfriend, Rin," Gumi said, "Practically I got my phone from this Furukawa-san, so…"

Rin blinked, unable to process the whole thing fast. Teto who previously was splashing here and there (including to random people) also went calm—which was strange.

Miki exclaimed loudly again, "But it was your… Ex-boyfriend—" another splash plus ball from Gumi, landed on her face, "—who got it! Did he give it to you?"

"He said he only needed one," Gumi said with a smile.

"…right," Rin suddenly spoke after using her brain to think—which was pretty hard at that time, "I've noticed that your phone is the same as Len's… When I asked him about 'you gave him a phone' he said something like 'the opposite', did he give it to you by any chance?"

Gumi widened her eyes. Oooh… Great moment to annoy Rin _again_, "Whooo, it's true that Kagamine-kun gave me this phone… But he's not and will never be my boyfriend…" Gumi said with a smile, her right arm circling Rin's neck (you know, that friendly way), "If that happens, this girl here will be very—"

That was when Rin kicked Gumi.

"—jealous because her _little brother_ has gotten a girlfriend but she hasn't…" Gumi continued, pain could be heard from the voice.

"Hey, stop fighting please…" Teto suddenly said, her arms were resting on the ball which floated on the water, "It's just me or I'm really ignored here?"

"Oh, so she's his sister?" Miki said, ignoring Teto. Then Teto faked a cry and Rin patted her head carefully.

"Hey hey…" Rin said, "Don't ignore the poor Teto-chan here… Or she's going to drill you all…" She continued innocently.

Gumi and Miki went dot-eyed, "What?"

* * *

"That was tiring!" Teto exclaimed as she flopped herself to the comfortable coach in a café inside a small alley (she didn't even bother to know its name, she was just too tired)—Gumi was the one who told them about the café's existence.

Then the rest of them—Rin, Gumi _and_ Miki (it was Rin who said, "Furukawa-san, want to join us?" Then Miki said, "Huh what?" And the kind Kagamine Rin-_sama_ explained, "Play with us if you want!" then Gumi's mouth went agape. At the end, the three of them ended with Miki following them _until the café_) followed her to flop (or sit, in Rin's condition) on the couch and relaxed.

"Anyone would be tired, unless if that person is a hyper or has too much energy…" Gumi said, ended with a tired sigh.

Then all eyes went to Rin, who looked strangely fresh.

"Uh, at least my brain's tired…" Rin said, feeling uncomfortable with all eyes on her.

"What?" Teto exclaimed in disbelief, "Are you thinking too much, Rin-chan?"

Rin grinned sheepishly, "Well, I have something in my mind… And I can't stop thinking about it…"

"…oh no," Then Teto let her head drop on the clean table, "So she didn't enjoy the playing? Well, Gumi-chan… We'll go there again tomorrow…"

Gumi widened her eyes and yelled, "No way!" while slamming the table not-so-harshly. Then her eyes wandered to Miki, "Anyway, what were you doing at the beach?"

Miki smiled, "Putting on Santa outfit in the middle of summer isn't good for health at all, so I chose to cool myself with the fresh and cool water of the beach… And yes, I went alone…"

Gumi put a face that said, 'of course' while Rin and Teto had their 'she does what?' face.

"Well, Kagamine Rin-san here is really kind, letting me join…" Miki said, smile still on her face.

Rin went uneasy with that name calling, "You can call me Rin-chan if you want…"

"Really?" Miki said excitedly (and loudly), "You can call me Miki-chan or Miki Miki!"

While Rin and Miki went 'flowery' there, Gumi commented to the non-drilled red-haired girl, "You sound like no one ever call you that…"

Miki blinked, "Uh, but that's the truth…"

'This girl is stranger than I thought…' Teto thought.

"Know the reason why I opened that stand?" Miki asked.

Gumi shook her head, Rin titled her head and Teto asked, "What stand?"

"Ask Nakajima and you'll know, too lazy to explain," Miki said shortly, then her eyes wandered away.

"Uh, she…" Gumi started, "She has a stand, and she gave prizes to people who pick the colored paper strips—"

"Even though it filled with tissues?" Teto asked.

Gumi blinked twice, "And from where you know that?"

"Usually it's like that…" Teto said carelessly like there wasn't a certain girl there.

"But then…" Miki suddenly took over the story, "…I do that because… Maybe people will thank me for giving things…"

"Giving things… Like children think Santa does?" Rin asked out of nowhere.

Gumi sweat-dropped, "That explains the Santa outfit…"

Then Rin was deep in thought, 'That Miki girl seemed to have problem with her social life… But she seemed… Happy…'

While Rin was still in her thought, Miki continued, "I know Nakajima because of that! She came and got tissues…"

"Why you tell that part…" Gumi face-palmed.

"Then, a boy who was with her—the one with yellow hair? Uh, I think it's yellow—got a plush and phones!" Miki exclaimed.

Teto thought it wasn't important, but she noticed that Miki's way of talking was like Rin, 'unsorted'.

Rin was still in her deep thought, this and that were running in fast pace in her mind, going here and there, making her confused.

Actually, Miku's words in previous 'previous' days (she couldn't remember the exact day) kept on ringing in her head like a bell. About searching Len and blah and blah and blah.

She didn't know why, the Len part didn't even left her mind.

So, if Miku was really going to 'take' him, she…

Would be alone again.

But she thought about it again, it wasn't the alone part. She had live for more-less 6 years alone (it was near impossible, but the truth is just… Rin had done that), though she always wanted a brother…

But how if it wasn't Len? Will it be the same?

More importantly, actually _what's_ Len? That question was the one that bugged her mind the most.

Then again, who's Len—the dead one—? He had to be her someone, right?

Were Len and Len related to each other?

She couldn't understand how her mind works, it was just too random.

Rin began to say her thought out loud, "Ahh, why I'm thinking about…" But she stopped when someone slide the menu list to the table. Rin went wide-eyed and looked up. A waiter was already standing there, ready to take the order with that some-sort-of-note in his right hand, the other hand was currently holding the pen.

She would proceed to choose the drink (or ice cream) if it wasn't Len.

'Why it has to be him…' She buried her head in her arms that were resting on the table.

"Welcome…" He said in a small voice. He was going to say something else—proven by his opened mouth—but stopped.

"Rin," was what he said.

Rin raised her hand without looking up, signaling her 'still alive' state "Er… Len…"

Then Miki waved her hand crazily. But she was tired before…? "Yellow boy! I'm talking about you here!"

"…huh?"

* * *

After the waiter (uh, Len) took their order, they went back to their previous activities, Miki talking about this and that with Teto joining the conversation—no one thought that Miki and Teto would get along well—Gumi looking out through the window, and Rin _still_ buried her face in her arms.

Wasn't she's going to be suffocated doing that?

Gumi averted her gaze from the window to Rin, then poked her slowly, "Ne Rin, you're…"

Before she could finish, Rin cut her sharply, "Let me stay like this for a moment…"

"…okay?" Gumi said then looked back to the window, voices played in the background.

"Nakajima!" Suddenly someone tapped her shoulder, Gumi turned her head and saw Miki looking at her, "Thank you for bringing us here!"

Gumi blinked, "Uh, sure…"

"Cherry-flavored ice is something I never seen before!"

Gumi went dot-eyed, "Uh?"  
"Hey Teto-chan…" Miki turned back to Teto, knowing that, Gumi looked back at the window _again_, "Will bread and cherries make a good combination?"

Teto put her hand on her chin, "Hm, maybe they will. We should try it sometime!"

"But maybe combining it with carrot will be better…" Gumi suddenly joined the conversation with her eyes still to the window.

Teto and Miki went dumbfounded, "Huh?"

"Anyway, the sky is clear… Well, it's not that hot anymore…" Gumi commented, completely unrelated to the previous topic. But Rin had taken interest with her talk about the sky, proved by her lifting up her head and looked at the sky.

"Ah, it's true…" Rin said, looked rather amazed. The view of the sky was blocked by the tall buildings, but she could still see the sky.

"Calmed already?" Gumi asked.

"Nah, that's not the problem…" Rin said in her 'Rin voice', "Maybe it will go well with oranges?"

"What?" Gumi asked.

"I'm talking about the bread-fruit or vegetable combi…" Rin explained.

Then someone's voice joined in, "Talking about the combinations, here's the ordered things…"

* * *

It was the second time in that day Neru had randomly joined in customer's talk while working—it wasn't that easy to work without phone, so she couldn't help but listening to the customers' talk about this and that.

"Ice creams…" She said shortly while sliding the bowls of ice cream on the table—what's with the sliding anyway?

"I'm thinking about something…" The red-haired-drilled girl said, "Aren't you supposed to be polite to the customers?"

Neru sighed and then re-greeted them, a forced smile on her face, "This is your order! Orange, carrot, bread, and cherry flavored ice cream!" She said 'cheerfully', successfully tasting something not good in her mouth. "We got some complaints today from the customers today… Sorry for the inconvenience…"

Neru really didn't want to say that useless line but that was the truth—maybe _a bit_ different… Since Miku had _yelled_ to Mikuo—whatever his name previously… Then to complaints about loud noises from the office—Meiko was probably beating Kaito off like usual, nothing to worry. It was the customers who got too… _Over_.

"Cherry!" Another girl exclaimed while pulling the cherry ice cream closer to her.

Somehow Neru recognized someone who's a cherry-fetish with red hair and Santa outfit… Wait, that girl was _that_, minus the Santa outfit-thing…

"Are you Miki by any chance?" Neru asked to the cherry obsessed red-hair (not the drilled one).

The—seemed to be Miki—examined Neru for a moment and then smiled, "So I assume you're Neru?"

Oh right, that girl is Miki.

Miki widened her eyes in excitement, "Whoa, finally I can see you by my own eyes…"

"Hm," was Neru's only reply.

"Miki-chan, sure you know many people… Eh?" Rin said from nowhere, noticing that Miki's ahoge somehow… Moved.

Miki turned to Rin, "Sure I am!"

Then Miki stretched her hand out to Neru, "It's nice to meet you!"

"Wait wait, how did you know her when you never met her?" Teto suddenly asked.

"We did," Miki answered shortly.

That answer leads to many understandings, though.

Then Neru looked at Rin who was looking at her as well. The staring moment just continued until Neru broke it with a "Len's here,"

That statement made Rin felt uneasy for some unknown reason, making her head to turn somewhere else—the window, "I-I know that…"

Even though Rin had let her eyes to see something else other than Neru, Neru didn't stop staring at her.

At first Rin didn't notice her stare, but at the time she noticed, she asked, "Wh-what?"

"I suppose you got the meaning, you're not stupid…" Neru said and left the table.

"So," Miki started as Neru left, "You know her as well, Rin-chan?"

Rin looked away again, "…that's…"


	24. Chapter 24: Anomalies

~~This story is getting nowhere with the lack of Rin-Len moment...

Enjoy this full-of-frustration chapter.

* * *

Gumi entered the class, not late and not early (unlike Teto and Rin who's strangely, always early). The class was already crowded with this girl doing this and that boy doing that. She spotted a drill-haired girl who was reading something on the table—a book? That was strange, Teto isn't a fan of book…

Or maybe there was a test that day? If there is, Gumi would be dead because she didn't study at all…

"Teto-chan, what are you doing?" Gumi asked as she approached Teto's desk.

Teto looked up from her book and answered, "Reading the homework…" Homework? Oh yes, they had it… Though Gumi had done it in the English class—she had nothing to do, she couldn't help it, the teacher's way of teaching is was too boring… Why they had to study English anyway? They don't even speak English…

Gumi sweat-dropped, "Why are you 'reading' your homework anyway?"

"Going to match it with Rin-chan… I mean Kagamine-kun's work so if something's wrong, I can fix it…" Teto said.

Gumi really didn't understand this, "What do you mean?"

"Well, let's count from five…"

"Four…"

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One…"

Then a loud pitchy voice rang throughout the class, echoing to every corner and belonged to Kagamine Rin, "Leeeeeeeeeen—! Let me copy your homework!"

Teto clapped her hands altogether, "Perfect timing,"

Gumi sweat dropped again, "…what?"

* * *

Chapter 24

* * *

At first Gumi thought that it was just her feeling, but Kagamine Rin had really gotten… Mad.

First, she seemed to be over-excited or some-sort-of-that. Her voice became louder and… Well…

"Number one, 615!"

…she was going to yell the answer?

Oh, second… The copying homework already became a routine for Rin, but this time… She didn't used to _yell_ the answer.

"Number two, 125.43!"

"Heheh, right again…" Teto commented from her desk, smiling as usual, "This is really useful…"

The third…

Teto waited for the number 3's answer, but Rin didn't say (_yell_) anything.

That was until, "Len! I don't understand!"

She _loves_ to yell 'Len!'

Fourth… And the strangest…

Gumi knew that Rin was seeking for trouble, but that time was…

"Oh, like that…" Rin muttered slowly (still could be heard) after understanding, then yelled the next answer, "Number three, 486,049!" After yelling that, she looked at the clock that was hung on the wall. Then she gasped, "Oh no, the teacher's going to be here soon…"

The usual Rin will say something like, "Any teacher, come here and see me copying Len's work!"

…really strange.

Gumi looked at Teto who was looking at her book, "This is strange, right?"

Teto looked up to Gumi, "Strange? I think this is really useful…"

Gumi thought that a sweat-drop might appear, if she wasn't facing something like that, "…maybe it's useful for you and the others but hey! I'm talking about Rin, not the answers! You heard what she said?"

Teto smiled, eyes didn't leave the book, "Right, it was strange."

"…then, what's with that reaction?" Gumi asked, Rin's (loud) voice was still being played in the background (currently yelling the seventh number).

"You care about Rin that much, right?" Teto asked.

Gumi thought for a moment. Did she really cares about Rin _that_ much? "I guess I am…"

"You're really… Kind, then…" Teto said, words not really related to the topic. Maybe because she was concentrated on her work instead of the talk?

"Oh, thank you…" Gumi said just to reply her somewhat compliment. "Anyway, I've finished my work, so why don't you match it with mine?"

Teto blinked, "…you have?"

"Oh no she's coming!" Rin yelled when she heard the door opened—even though she didn't know who it was. Her instinct was right, though. It was that white-haired teacher who walked in.

She stood in front of the class, eyeing everyone in the class. Then announced, "…I gave you homework yesterday, right? Let me check it then…"

The class silently collected their books (before that, Rin whispered, "Number ten, ze-ro."). That teacher was just… Her name is Yowane Haku and she's not talking that much, teaching seems to be a bother to her. She always looks…

You know what I mean, right? That's the reason why the students weren't that close to her…

Before she even opened the book(s), she announced something again, "But then, I think you already understand about this problem, so let it pass…"

"Eeeeeeeh?"

* * *

"This is frustrating," Rin said, clutching her head to add the 'frustrated' effect.

"What's wrong?" Teto asked, looking at Rin.

"Let's say that I've done the homework," Rin began, "But _accidentally_ left it at home, so I have to cheat because I'm too lazy to recount it,"

Teto didn't give any comment for a short 10 seconds, "It's your own fault, then…"

"But—!" Rin whined, "Yowane-sensei is just too unkind! She didn't feel it! The pain of students who are against homeworks~! They had to do it and she just… Just…"

Rin started it again, the random-sentence-arrangement-way-of-talking.

"...Teto-chan, my throat hurts…"

Teto sweat-dropped, "You don't have to yell the answer, Rin-chan… Anyway, thank you for the answers…"

"Eh, really?" Rin asked excitedly, "Well, I really don't do anything, but you're welcome!"

"Really, Rin-chan~" Teto sang.

"But, you know…" Rin said darkly, "That answers are useless…"

"Uh…"

"Nah," Rin clapped her hands, "I have to go somewhere, see ya~" With that, she disappeared somewhere.

Teto blinked before pulling out her phone and texted Gumi.

_To Gumi:_

_"Rin-chan's strange –Teto"_

* * *

_To Teto:_

_"I've said that, Teto-chan –Gumi"_

Gumi sighed, thinking about the strange Rin she saw (heard) before. Was something happened?

'Nah, something must be _happening_,' she thought.

Because between all of them, it was only her who knows the truth behind all of that.

When everyone else thinks that Rin's trouble-seeker-self is a something natural, Gumi knows it…

…about what had actually happened in the past. About Rin. About something that made her like that.

Teto didn't know that, she just became their friend in elementary school.

Gumiya didn't know that, he was living with their grandparents when 'that' happened.

Miki didn't know that, she was just a random girl she encountered with.

…Rin had a terrible past—no, not that _terrible_, it was just… 'Not good'.

Unable to cope with that, she…

Rin is a cheerful girl who often smiles—and worst, always seeks for troubles.

It was because she didn't remember what had actually happened. That makes her to be _like that_, because she didn't feel like getting trouble at all.

But the truth isn't like that.

…so even Rin didn't know that, she was unaware with her past.

And Len didn't—

Wait, Len?

She felt something was strange there, because from what she knew, Len is—

"Oooh, I never thought I'll see you _again_ here, green girl!" A voice said (yelled).

She knew that voice, it was too… Familiar…

"You again, Mi-Miki?" Gumi asked carefully, turning around to face the person.

"The one and only, Miki Miki " She said, adding a wink after that.

…Gumi swore she saw her ahoge turned into a star-shape…

"You called me 'Miki'! Finally you want to be my friend? That's cool, Nakajima!" Miki suddenly exclaimed. Could this girl lower her voice a bit…?

"No, Furukawa-san," Gumi said coldly.

"Agh, how cruel~" Miki said, faking a 'hurt look'.

"You go to this school as well? Strange, I never see you before… Neither Rin-chan or Teto-chan…" She continued.

"I'm kinda… 'New' here…" Gumi explained, sweat-drop dropped.

"Oh well, how was last break at the beach? Enjoying it?"

"Well, I enjoy it…"

"Where's Rin-chan and Teto-chan?"

"…I have no idea, maybe they're chatting together somewhere?"

"Anyway, your boyfriend is here too? Cool! I saw him talking with a teal-haired senior!"

Gumi face-palmed, '…I have no idea about who this girl's talking about… And why I'm stuck with her again?'

* * *

Mikuo was frustrated.

It was only the second semester of the second year of high school, but the teacher had given him a **lot** of tasks.

Tasks.

And again, tasks.

He was going to explode anytime possible.

"AAAARGH!" He yelled in frustration.

"What's wrong, Mikuo?" Someone asked.

Mikuo released his hand from his head, looking for the source of voice.

And he saw him, his red-haired best friend. Mikuo could feel his face heat up at the 'sight', "O-oh, Akaito… Nothing…"

"Heh, I can see you frustrated…"

Mikuo gave him a childish pout, "O-of course, who wouldn't? The teacher gave us too many tasks at once…"

"Ah," Akaito said, circling his right arm to Mikuo's neck, "Maybe I could help you?"

Mikuo blushed, God… He should stop that, it's soooo un-Mikuo, "Y-you can?"

"If there's some spare time, maybe I can…" He said, releasing his arm (and made Mikuo felt disappointed), "Well, have to go. See ya, Mikuo…"

"Ah, see you…" Mikuo trailed off, seeing his friend walked away to a different direction. Mikuo himself started to walk away as well, but without breaking his stare to the red-haired guy…

…successfully stumbling into someone, causing him to fell flat on his face. He pulled his face from the floor quickly, just to see scattered sheets of paper around him.

…paper sheets?

"…I wonder why you always stumbled into me, Hatsune… Senpai?"

"Gah, Kagamine-kun?"

* * *

"And juuuuump~!" Rin yelled on top of her lungs while jumping.

She said to Teto that she had to go somewhere.

That could be translated as 'meeting Len _forcefully_'. So right when her eyes caught his figure, she jumped as high as possible, ready to glomp him.

She met the floor after that, caused by her powerful jump, which made him lose his balance and fell to the floor.

"Rin…?"

"Yeah, it's me!" she replied cheerfully.

He sweat-dropped, "…don't do that again, okay…?"

"Yes sir!" she answered. After that, she just realized that a senior was watching at them like they were something not from the earth. Then she greeted the dumfounded senior, "Morning, senpai!"

"…morning…" He replied slowly, still having that strange look on his face.

…Rin wanted to laugh at that face, but doing that would bring a trouble for her.

Nuh-uh, she didn't want to be troubled anymore.

…probably Teto and Gumi (plus Len) thought that want-to-be-free-from-trouble-Rin is a something… Strange. But…

Ah, the (teal-haired) senior was still watching them.

"…Rin, you're heavy…"

Rin widened her eyes at her _brother_'s statement, of course, what girl doesn't?

"I only weigh 43 kilos, okay?" She hissed, not making her voice loud. Even though like that, she hopped off the poor boy and stand up right.

She looked at the senior (again), examining him carefully. Then she asked, "Senpai… I'm Kagamine Rin, and can you explain about _what are you doing_ with _my_ Len Len? You don't love him right?"

"What?" The senior yelled in surprise, not expecting any questions like _that_.

"Rin… Of course he doesn't love me, he loves someone else…" Len 'explained'.

"Eeeeep!" Rin exclaimed, "And from where you know that, Len?"

"That's…"

"Erm," That teal-haired senior coughed, "I'm Hatsune Mikuo, and I assume you're his little sister… Um, Kagamine-san?"

"No way!" Rin said, making an ｘ with her fingers, "I am his older sister!"

"Eh…"

"Oh, it's nice to meet you then eh… Rin-san?"

"Nah, it's nice to meet you too, Hatsune-senpai! So, explain… How did you meet my cute brother?" Rin asked randomly.

Mikuo raised an eyebrow. What was with that girl being so… _Strange_? "At the station…"

"…please don't talk about that," Len pleaded.

Because he was pleading, there was no way Rin could refuse, "Okay. Hatsune-senpai, stop talking about that…"

'She's ordering me?' Mikuo asked himself.

He stared at Rin and Rin stared at him back. While Mikuo just gave her a 'meaningless stare', looks like Rin was examining him.

Then she realized something about Hatsune… Mikuo—whatever his name is— and his appearance. Face, hair color...

"...you looked like her..." Rin muttered lowly, so no one could hear that.

Unluckily, none of them missed it—means both of them heard that. And Mikuo exclaimed instantly after that, "Don't say that you've met _Hatsune Miku_…"

Rin looked surprised by this, "…you know her?"

"Of course I know her!" Mikuo yelled. "She… She _was_ my—"

"Rin, what did Hatsune-san do in your house when she came?" Len asked, cutting Mikuo.

Rin couldn't answer that instantly. "She's…"

She could felt that her bright face darken, so she smiled again to make her face remains bright, "She's my friend! I met her when I was walking home, so I invited her over~"

She wasn't telling lies, but that wasn't telling the truth either.

"Eh, it's just like that?" Mikuo asked, somehow not believing her. "She barged into my house, you know…"

'…So he wants everyone knows how Hatsune-san get into his house…' Len thought, knowing that Mikuo had said the same thing to him.

They were chatting about Miku, but went to the other topics as well (actually it was Rin and Mikuo who was chatting, Len was… Listening).

_Miku_…

* * *

Omake

* * *

_From Gumi:_

_"Furukawa's here –Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"Really? Where? –Teto"_

_From Gumi:_

_"Here, with me –Gumi"_

_To Gumi:_

_"And where are you now? –Teto"_

_From Gumi:_

_"I'm HEY! THIS IS GUMI! I WANT TO SAY THAT I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH TETO-CHAN~! –Gumi"_

_From Gumi:_

_"That was Furukawa! That was Furukawa! –Gumi"_

_From Gumi:_

_"But Nakajima Gumi Gumi really loves you! You know what? She just had a yellow-haired boy recently… That waiter in that café—Rin-chan's brother! Then she ditched him and become Rin-chan's _girlfriend_! And now she wants you O_o –Gumi"_

_From Gumi:_

_"That was Furukawa again! –Gumi"_

Teto sweat-dropped, "…haven't gotten along, then…? Or maybe that's the proof of friendship?"


	25. Chapter 25: Feelings

~~**Really hard to continue this, I go all "I wanna play!" and forgetting the story... The ideas are here but I'm too lazy to type it...**

Sorry if there are some errors, in a hurry...

Thank you!

* * *

He once again, put an end in his newly-made song. He sighed before putting the music sheet on top of a stack of paper, and there were about 30 stacks of paper sheets.

…it wasn't his fault. He was just writing down whatever in his mind, turning thoughts into notes and lyrics. And Rin didn't seem to care about that.

…or it was because she never came to that room—well, she _had_ come there to the room, once or twice—making her unaware about the existence of the stacks of paper sheets.

But then, she played it, right? The song he had made.

Lately, he had more things in his mind, about this and that.

Mostly about himself.

Sounded selfish?

The things were just… _There_, annoying him every hour, every minute, every second—even every millisecond. That explains the number of paper sheets that just kept increasing.

…even one day, he went somewhere (a nearby city) with paper sheets with him, and all he did is writing, writing, and writing.

Like it wasn't going to stop.

But it _did_ stop, he met a random someone—later known as a senior in his school, then meeting Miku and ended up working even though he didn't need to do that—it was Saturday, he didn't have to work in break days!

…Miku, huh?

"About going back…" He said to himself, "…where?"

Both Mikuo and Miku had stated that Miku is—indeed, dead.

But then, how did a dead person walk here and there, talking and doing things like a normal, living human?

Maybe Mikuo was talking about another Hatsune Miku?

But Miku just smiled when he asked her about her 'death'.

Then, Rin. She looked uncomfortable with the 'Miku' name. There was something between Miku and Rin.

Something he didn't know.

"…maybe it has something to do with me…?" he asked himself, looking at the ceiling, then to the dark sky of night through the glass window.

"And maybe… Something to do with Rin, Akita-san… Hatsune-san, Hatsune-senpai, Nakajima-san… All of us…"

"Then, Kagamine Len-san…"

The sky was getting darker and darker. He knew he should go down, back to his 'room', besides, Rin might be looking for him.

But he just didn't want to leave.

…but seems like he had to. He knew it was 7 in the evening and he knew, Rin was starving.

Sighing (again, he loves to sigh lately), he rearrange the messy stack of paper sheets into a tidier one. Then he closed the piano cover carefully—not wanting to make any sound, then turned off the light and walked out from the room.

He closed the door (still carefully) and headed down, right when Rin yelled, "Len~ I'm starving here! You know I'll poison myself to death if I cook my own dinner so…"

"Coming…"

* * *

Chapter 25

* * *

"Miyaaaa, I'm going to get back home lateee—!" Gumi yelled from her room, currently preparing herself to go to the school.

"You're going to what?" Gumiya yelled back. Gumi took this as a 'he didn't hear me then?' sign.

Gumi sighed and exited her room, heading to the dining table with hair brush still in her hand. After finished brushing, she put down the brush on the table carelessly, "I'm going to get back home late, Gumiya…" Then she picked up a random carrot that was lying on the table innocently.

"And what're you going to do?" Gumiya asked again, and when he realized the carrot was on Gumi's hand already, he put a face that said 'hey that's mine!'

"Visiting a friend," Gumi said as she bit the carrot.

Raw carrot is the best for the Nakajima family…

"You never do that before…" Gumiya muttered lowly while taking another carrot from the refrigerator and bit it before Gumi took it again. Thanks to the carrot, his brain could work 100 times faster, successfully understanding Gumi's word, "Oh, you mean your dead friend?"

Gumi eyed him, "Oh, that's rude," And bit the carrot once more, "And yes…"

"Anyway, I'm curious about what actually happened in the past… _Your past_ I mean… Though I still have no idea why mom and dad 'put' me in grandma's house…"

"Meh, you're not a thing Miya…"

"Ooh, what a wonderful little sister, defending her brother like that~" Gumiya sang playfully. "Anyway, what actually happened? I'm asking you."

"He died…" Gumi started. At first Gumiya thought she was going to continue but no, she didn't. In fact, she walked out from the house with carrot (still) in her hand carelessly, "I'm leaving Miya~!"

"You haven't answered my question!"

* * *

Gumi closed the front door as quick as possible before she could argue more with her brother. God, she had no idea why her brother is soooo talkative. Maybe because he loves her (in that brotherly way)? Or because of what?

She could call Gumiya as her over-protective brother. Maybe because they were separated when there were just a children for an unknown reason—Gumi lived with their parents and Gumiya lived with their grandparents—made him had that feeling of having a responsibility on her?

But even if she knows that Gumiya really cared for her (he was… the substitute of their parents, whose strangely, 'disappeared' somewhere, saying something like 'the _fifth_ honeymoon' right after they arrived back at Japan. Their parents were just… Unpredictable), doesn't mean she can tell him everything.

Like what happened with her and her friends at school.

Like what happened with her and her mangas (nah, he'll just steal her manga if she said that she has buy a new one).

And even, like what happened with her friend(s) before the two of them reunited again as the complete Nakajima family.

Right, about her and her dead friend… Actually Gumi didn't want her brother to figure that thing out, but he just did, so… Luckily, the only information that Gumiya had obtained was, 'Gumi has lost her friend when they were in kindergarten'.

…again, she had to admit it, it was strange that she could remember someone in her childhood who had died—even worse, she still remembered what _his_ face looked like.

…maybe because of that.

She still remembered when he died.

She knows how he died.

She could recall her memories of seeing him died in front of her eyes.

Gumi shook her head, trying to shake those thoughts away. She was going to visit him (his grave) anyway… Nothing's wrong with that.

…really?

Then, his sister… Strangely didn't find out that he had died for… Some month, until an accident happened, and she _accidentally_ found that out.

Was that really an accident? Or that was something that people call the 'fate'?

After that, she lost her parents. From that day, she lives by her own.

…and her name is Kagamine Rin.

Gumi grunted.

* * *

Rin entered the empty classroom. She sighed, 'So I'm alone again? I should stop getting here too early…'

5 minutes, and Teto get into the class, "Whoa, Rin-chan… You're early…"

Rin looked at her boredly, "As usual, Teto-chan…" Then she gave Teto her brightest smile, "But then, you're here so we can talk about something now!"

So, Rin and Teto chatted together. Only the two of them in the large classroom.

Again.

And when they were laughing together (about something random _as usual_), the classroom door opened, revealing a familiar green-haired girl with goggles on her head.

She greeted, "Morning, Rin, Teto-chan!"

"Morning too, Gumi!" Rin greeted back, waving something random (which appeared to be a notebook) with her hand, signaling her to go over there, while Teto just said a quick (but cheerful) greet.

"So, it's just the two of you?" Gumi asked, noticing that the classroom was indeed, empty. But filled with the existence of the three of them.

"Yeah, like usual~" Rin said, signaling more because Gumi just stood there unmoving. With that, Gumi started to approach them.

"Sure ma'am, I'll go there…" Gumi joked.

There, the three of them would just chat until the bell rang and when they looked around, the class was already crowded.

It was just like the old days, when they chat together in the empty classroom—it wouldn't be empty anymore because they were there…

Like before Gumi went to a said-to-be-a-vacation—even though that happened when they were still in the elementary school, things change…

But for Gumi, it felt more… Different. Sure, it's different for all of them, but for her it's just… Different.

She likes that the best.

When she was just in kindergarten, it's her, Rin and her brother.

After that, she moved somewhere. Not too far, not too close. There she met Iroha.

Then her (random) parents suddenly asked them to 'move' (right, actually it wasn't a vacation at all) to America.

There, she…

Had no friend.

…maybe that's how Miki felt…

…and talking about Miki, the door opened again, revealing that red-haired girl.

"Oh, all of you are early!" She said, walking towards them.

"…and what are you doing here, Miki-chan? Too early as well?" Gumi asked.

"Aha, right! But then, my classroom is empty so I'm alone there, glad to see you here!"

"Ehehehe, me and Teto usually like this," Rin giggled, "Gumi is strangely early today."

"Hey, I'm not," Gumi pouted playfully, "Where's your classroom anyway, Miki-chan?"

"Just beside this one,"

"…"

"Well, may I join?" Miki asked.

"Sure!" Teto asked, "Anyway, had you tried that combination of orange and banana?"

"I haven't, too busy to eat loafs of bread…" Teto replied truthfully.

Rin sweat-dropped, 'Actually what are they planning…?'

"Then maybe we can go shopping groceries after school?" Miki asked, "I need to buy tissues after all…"

Gumi eyed her strangely, "For that gift-giving?"

"Of course, what else?" Miki said, straight to the point. "Most of them got tissues after all, so I'm out of it!"

"Eeeeeh, maybe I'll try that later…" Rin said, voice (strangely) sweeter than usual.

"Whoa, you will?" Miki asked excitedly, "I usually there after school or break days…"

"A hard-worker…" Teto mumbled, "But still, we have to try that weird combination…"

"Thank you and sure!" Miki said, "I've said it, right? Maybe we can go after school, the four of us…"

Then all of them looked at Gumi who hadn't said anything for a while.

"You!" Miki exclaimed, pointing at the green haired girl, "You called me 'Miki-chan', right?"

"Yeah I did?" Gumi said questioningly.

"May I call you Gumi-chan, then?"

"Ah, that's okay, Fu—Miki-chan…"

"Nah, four! New record!" Miki said loudly.

Rin tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"Four friends! Can you imagine that?"

…so it was true that Miki didn't have any friends before…

"Who's the other one?" Rin asked, feeling curious.

"Neru," Miki said shortly, yet loudly.

Rin stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Teto asked, seeing Rin's stiffened 'form'.

"Eh, nothing…"

"So, back to the grocery shopping matter!" Miki yelled.

…it's a miracle if their ears don't break.

"Sure I'll follow Miki Miki's advice!" Teto yelled, full with spirit, even though her words were a bit muffled, thanks for the bread she pulled out from nowhere.

"I'll join in, have nothing else to do, besides we're almost out of groceries… Again," Rin said, the last part said mostly to herself.

"You only live with your brother?" Miki asked.

"Eh, right…" Rin lied, the right thing would be 'living alone with a random person inside her house'.

"Whoa, I'm impressed… But Gumi-chan is like that as well, right?"

"Nah, it's because our parents are a travel-maniac," Gumi said, didn't want to talk about her parents.

"…then again, Gumi-chan, you haven't confirmed about your participation in this," Miki continued.

"Ah, sorry. But I have to do something… _Important_ after school…" Gumi said. She didn't—fix that, she _couldn't_ forget that 'important' thing.

"Ah, too bad. But it's okay, we'll go there… Just the three of us…" Miki said.

Then, Gumi felt it…

…the need for restroom.

"I have to go now…" Gumi grinned sheepishly, "Will be back less than 5 minutes, don't worry…"

* * *

"Byu, byu, byu…" Rin said randomly while the teacher was calling their name one-by-one to check their attendance. She was bored, okay? There was nothing she could do… Except for saying 'byu, byu, byu' randomly like that.

"Gahhh… Why school is so boring…" She said as she put her head down to the desk.

"Byu, byu, byu…" Rin continued her meaningless mumble, while the teacher just kept on calling the students one by one.

…but maybe she could examine people in her classroom…

Miki had gone back to her class (of course, the bell had rang already).

Teto was there, staring at nothing in particular. Rin could guess that she was day-dreaming about eating bread. Strange enough?

Gumi went away to (presumably) the restroom—she said that line of 'will be back in less than 5 minutes' when the bell was going to ring just a minute to go.

She should check the time before going to the restroom…

The teacher smiled 'scarily' (Rin's opinion, because usually he doesn't smile… _Smirk_ like that) as he moved to the next name, "Kaai Yuki,"

"Here~!"

Rin eyed the dark-brown-haired girl with two pigtails, waving her hand as the teacher called her…

Something was between that teacher and Yuki? Yuki looks like a little girl… A Loli (Rin used to be the Loli one in her class when she was in junior high—even when she was 14 **already**—and she hated it, _gladly_ she met that Kaai Yuki girl in her high school, so… No Loli-Rin anymore), and…

Rin took a look at the teacher, he had that pedophile eyes on her.

Okay, so that teacher is actually a pedophile? Why didn't she notice this before? Maybe she was too busy seeking for a trouble…

Uh, yes. A male teacher, his name is Hiyama something as Rin could recall… There's no point in knowing his first name after all…

…anyway, where's Len? She didn't see him in the class at that time.

She didn't remember walking with him like they usually do every morning (they're 'sister and brother' after all… it's 'normal').

…she didn't even saw him back at home. She woke up, went to the bathroom to take a bath, then noticing that there wasn't any prepared breakfast on the table. Because of that she took some oranges, she ate one and the rest were stuffed in her bag. Then she walked out from the house (too early in the morning) and…

Whooops, her fault?

"Kagamine Rin," The teacher _finally_ called her.

"Here!" She raised her hand as high as she could (because she was really bored and had nothing to do).

…somehow her boredom disappeared for some seconds when she raised up her hand. After she put it back down, the boredom came back again.

Wait, wasn't she examining the people in the class?

"Kagamine-san…?" The teacher called her again.

"H-what?" She answered, looking up to the teacher (after putting back her head on the desk).

"Where's Kagamine-san… I mean, your brother?" He asked.

"…sorry but I don't know…?" Rin answered, unsure with her choice of words.

The teacher gave her a weird look (different from the weird-pedo-look) before continuing, "Okay, so… Kasane Te—"

Teto was going to raise her hand when she—all of them—heard a strange crashing sound from the outside, followed with little yelps. All heads turned to the door of the classroom. But noting happened to the door so the students went back to the things they previously do.

The door slide open, revealing some certain _people_. Rin looked back to the door and saw _them_—Gumi and Len.

Getting in the class.

_Together_.

Both of them apologized calmly (heh? How can? If it was Rin, she would apologize panicked-ly so the teacher will forgive her and she was away from the trouble. Even though like that, Rin still thinks that a-non-trouble-seeker-Rin is a something strange) and sat at their seat.

Rin looked out from the window, sighing.

Actually, should she felt glad because Gumi was back or not? She knew there was something between Gumi and Len lately and that made her a little uncomfortable.

As her 'brother', Len should spend his time with her more, not with Gumi.

…but then, he wasn't really her 'brother', and everything's up to him. It was her who wanted him to be with her (ah, the reason why she loves to glomp him lately).

'Gah, a selfish me…' Rin thought as he put her head back on the table (again). Actually what's wrong with her? First, she met a random person that appeared out from nowhere who didn't remember anything **in** her house. Second, she found out that 'that random person' wasn't a human after all…

…although he **did** ask about the meaning of 'human'—then it was obvious that he _wasn't _one of the 'humans'—why didn't she realize that earlier?

Fourth, she met some other non-human being (Rin had no idea about those _creatures_) who were looking for 'him'. It ended with her leaving the 'trouble seeker job' because of him.

…really? Was it really because of him? It was _just_ because Miku said something like that, then she felt that a trouble came and 'poof!', she quit her 'trouble seeking job'.

…because he'll leave her?

…and that's a trouble?

Rin always thinks that a trouble is something like… Someone give a punishment, or being chased by a scary… Creatures like dog, crocodile, bear (though the last two animals just won't pass casually in front of her house. Of course, she doesn't live in the wild jungle or something like that)… Not something like… (Going to) lose someone 'important'.

But then, what's wrong with her?

Living alone (again) is an 'okay'.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay…

…**not**.

She wants to be with him.

She doesn't want him to leave her.

…and why? What's the reason? _Again_, living alone is an 'okay'.

'…I don't understand myself…' Rin thought, 'Why do I feel this way?'

'I used to be alone but…'

'If I'm alone again, there won't be any piano sound anymore, no one's going to make meal for me, no one's going to watch the TV with me…'

'No one's going to catch me again if I fall off from the building, or if I jump to the nuclear reactor…' Rin smiled at this thought.

'No one's… Going to be with me…'

Rin looked out from the window—which was not easy with her awkward position to watch the view of the summer from the class.

'I don't like him… In that love way, right…?'

She just stared at the window (right, the window. Not the scenery outside the building which could be viewed from the window) blankly, nothing was running in her mind at all. Blank state.

Suddenly she sat upright, hand slightly slamming the table (but no sound was produced), 'O-of course I don't _love_ him, I've stated that I won't go incest!'

'…wait, he's not my _real_ brother…'

'HE'S NOT EVEN A HUMAN! HOW CAN A _CREATURE LIKE THAT_ BECOME MY BROTHER?'

'…then, if I love him, then nothing's wrong, right?'

'…'

'GAH! KAGAMINE RIN, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?' she yelled in her thought, hands pulling her hair stressfully.

Then her phone beeped—I mean, vibrated so the teacher wouldn't know it. She raised an eyebrow. Who sent her a message in this time? Every single person she knows was studying at school…

She checked the class. When she knew that no one was paying attention to her, she opened the flap of her phone under the table, and read the message.

_From Len:_

_ "Is something wrong? –Len"_

Rin just stared at the phone.

'Wa-wait, he didn't read my thoughts _again_, right?' she thought panicked-ly after realizing. 'But I'm glad I used 'he' in my previous thought, not 'Len'…'

'…'

'…Rin, you have to remember it well that he can read your mind _even now_…'

'Eh, I think something's wro—OH MY ORANGES I MENTIONED THAT!'

'Calm down Rin, calm down… Just think he didn't and he won't, okay? Calm down…'

After feeling the temperature of her heated face had gone down, she stared again at the phone.

'Wait, why he's texting me?'

_To Len:_

_ "Len, you're not supposed to 'do something with your phone' while studying in this boring class –Rin"_

She looked at the board and the teacher while her left hand was still holding her phone, waiting for reply. Although she didn't really pay attention to what Hiyama-sensei was explaining… Something math-y.

…wait, why Hiyama was teaching math? Usually Yowane was the one who teach that subject… Strange…

But then, nothing was wrong with Hiyama (except the fact that he's a lolicon), he's a friendly teacher…

So, texting is okay.

But what's the point of texting when Len didn't even reply her message?

Rin sighed as she turned her eyes to the phone once more, then typed something.

_To Len:_

_ "You know, you can break the rules a bit –Rin"_

_ From Len:_

_ "Oh… I see. –Len"_

Rin sweat-dropped at this.

_To Len:_

_"Then, what do you know? –Rin"_

_ From Len:_

_ "What? –Len"_

_ To Len:_

_ "Why do you know that something's bothering me? –Rin"_

She thought about her choice of word ten times before sending that message.

_From Len:_

_ "You were grabbing your hair like… Uh, crazy? –Len"_

_ To Len:_

_ "Thank you for that (sarcastically), anyway, it's not your business… -Rin"_

Rin sighed in relief knowing the fact that no one (especially Len) knows what she was thinking about.

…and she just realized that the words in her last message were rather harsh. Her cute 'brother' doesn't deserve that harshness!

_To Len:_

_ "Sorry for the harshness, I didn't realize it –Rin"_

_ From Len:_

_ "It's okay –Len"_

_ To Len:_

_ "Anyway, why you came… _Late_? –Rin"_

_ From Len:_

_ "Overslept –Len"_

Rin felt that feeling of guilt.

_To Len:_

_ "Ah, sorry for not waking you up, I forgot __･__ω__･__–__Rin"_

Rin could feel her lips forming a smile.

She felt happy.

'…it won't be the same anymore, though…'


	26. Chapter 26: Talk

~~Just... Blame my laziness! And school had started aaaaaaa...

Not a month yet since my last update... But...

And this is rather short—though this chapter was an 'oversized' chapter with a lot of flashbacks before I edited this... I just move them (the flashbacks) to the next chapter so...

This chapter is... Another Gumi-Len moment—don't kick me, I'm just using them to tell the... Story? (Maybe) you'll get what I mean...

Disclaimer (what? I want to do this!): Don't own~

* * *

"Hey, Miku. You know… We haven't made any move since that time," Neru said, talking while taking a bowl of ice cream from the kitchen.

Miku watched her movement, "I know that. And the time's still ticking,"

"Then…?" Neru asked before going out from the room.

"…maybe we have to visit Rin?"

"Akita-san, where's the ice?" someone shouted and Neru muttered something like 'a pain', groaned as she walked out.

Miku stood up and clapped her hands, "Since the shift's going to be over, let's sneak out and annoy 2 people at once…"

* * *

Chapter 26

* * *

"Well, Gumi-chan… You really _really_ can't go with us?" Miki whined, hoping that her new-made friend would go shopping with them. Sure it was just a grocery shopping, but doing that with your friends makes it more fun.

"Uh, yeah… Sorry if I disappoint someone…" Gumi said with a sheepish grin on her face.

"You _do_ disappoint me!" Miki whined again in a louder voice—which was really loud, even made many heads turned to her—_their _—direction.

Gumi sighed. What was with this girl… She began to feel annoyed of this Miki. But then, Miki (practically) gave her a phone. Once again, _gave her a __phone_—something uncommon for someone who just entered the high school—so she had to act nicer (that beach-thing was a something… Gumi acted rather harsh to Miki so…) to her, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed with that red girl—not Teto, Teto's volume of voice is even lower that that living megaphone!

Feeling uncomfortable with those stares, Gumi apologized, "Eh, sorry Miki-chan, I don't mean to disappoint you… I'll… Come if my business has finished…"

Miki's eyes widened in joy, "Really? Waaahh, thank you Gumi Gumi!" and Miki hugged the poor Gumi.

"Gah, let go!" Gumi exclaimed.

While Miki was hugging Gumi crazily, Teto giggled while giving Gumi a thumb up, "Good job Gumi-chan!"

And Rin stared at them blankly.

"How about you, Rin-chan… Feeling happy?" Teto asked her, making her jump a bit.

Rin forced a smile on her face—it wasn't that she didn't want to smile, but 'those things in her mind' were really annoying, disturbing her 'happy, fluffy moment with her friends'… She could do nothing with those bugging things, "Ah, if Gumi joined us, it'll be more… Fun, of course!"

'…maybe if I spend more of my time with Len, it'll be more fun. But of course I can't… He said he has something to do this evening…'

Then Gumi (who had finally released herself from Miki's death attack) gave her a 'meaningful look'.

"What?" Rin asked with a bit of harshness in her voice, knowing that Gumi was thinking 'about her who was thinking' about something related to… Ah, you know what…

"N-nothing…" Gumi said, a bit scared with Rin's snap.

* * *

Gumi put her shoes in her locker and readied herself to… go. And she was going to go after Rin and the others after this anyway…

…about Rin, she had been acting strange lately, like zoning out, daydreaming…

No doubt, she must be troubled.

And something was wrong with Rin, the trouble seeker being troubled.

Nothing was really happened after that 'lemon incident', but after a certain day, Rin just became… Like that, losing the spirit of seeking trouble—which was like, Gumi thought something like that wouldn't come that fast (somehow she knew Rin would stop but…).

Not only that, Rin was… Acting differently to the others, like became less talkative with her friends and being hyper towards Len.

So then, Gumi thought that the first 'trouble' Rin got is something about Len.

Gumi could see it that she likes him not in that sibling way.

It was too obvious for Gumi just by seeing her. The way she hid her face when she walks with her friends and she sees him, at the other side acts hyper to show her care-ness to him—this often happened when she wasn't with her friends, she would glomp him and it was even possible for him to die there because Rin killed him—it's not like Gumi stalked them, she was just passing by when she saw that. Then she looked jealous when she knows that he walks with another girl, and… Gumi was in that list, she felt sorry for Rin… Then the way she talks about him—she had that blank face.

That last one belongs to the second 'trouble', something's wrong with Rin herself…

Or is it related to the first one?

Gumi hadn't known about the second one _yet_, but then…

Rin hid the fact that she likes Len, proved thanks to the lemon accident. Maybe she didn't want Gumi knows that she _really_ went incest?

But one more important thing, Gumi doubted that Len is actually Rin's brother. Based on the truth she knows, 'Len' was—

"Nakajima-san…"

—_there_.

Perfect timing. She thought about him, and he 'appeared' next to her, "Kagamine-kun… What are you doing here?" She asked, completely had no idea.

He tilted his head and answered, "…taking something from the locker?"

Then Gumi just realized that his locker was beside hers.

"Rin's going to go shopping with the others," He stated. Wait, she had no idea why he stated that…

"Right, I have to go somewhere so I can't go with them…" She said and asked back, "And you? Usually Rin takes you everywhere…"

He looked away, "I have to go somewhere…"

* * *

Gumi walked silently with the wind accompanying her. Her shoes made a low, faint sound as it met the asphalt.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

The road was less crowded. But then, that road that she was walking on never filled with crowd. She could see one or two people passing by and they looked at her once she turned her head to take a look. Then they would just look away after that.

She continued walking in a same, slow pace. Once again hearing the soft breeze of wind and her own footsteps.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap…

Gumi looked down to the dark-colored road and sighed, "I can hear _your _footsteps better if _our_ footsteps don't synchronize to each other…" then she looked up and finally turned her head to take a better look of someone _behind her_, "…Kagamine-kun?"

Then Len, who was walking behind her for _the whole time_, said "Huh?" like he wasn't doing anything _strange_ such as following her.

"Er, why are you following me?" she asked, knowing that he wasn't stalking her—she knew he won't do something like that—so she chose the 'follow' word instead.

He widened his eyes hearing her question, "…I'm not following you…"

Gumi stayed silent after that, 'Of course, why would he follow me? He's probably walking somewhere… In the same direction. But with that position and the fact that _you_ didn't even greet me, it seems like you're following me, Kagamine-kun…'

Len suddenly spoke up, "Sorry if I'm bothering you, Nakajima-san… But… We're just going to the same direction. And… I have _many things_ in my mind… Sorry, I didn't say anything,"

…right, Rin had told Gumi that her brother (she questioned this) reads people's mind…

"…no no, it's okay. It's just… Usually I walk in this road alone and having someone just… Well, I'm not used with that…" she said truthfully.

"…Nakajima-san, you have a brother, right?" he asked out of nowhere—not a problem for her since it was better talking like that than walking in a complete silence like they were strangers (they were wearing uniform from the same school, they _supposed_ to know each other).

She paused walking for a while, waiting for him to catch up with her. Walking side-by-side is better since they could talk more properly. Once he had passed her, she continued walking.

"Yes, I have." she said shortly, "Why are you asking something like that? And from where you know that? Did Rin say something about this?" she asked.

"Ah, I'm just wondering about that… No, Rin said that you're the only child. But you said that you have a brother… "

So, Rin _did _say something about that. "…but when did I say that?" she asked again. Seriously, she didn't even talk much to him—expect that time when Len avoided Rin, somehow they became just a bit closer and after that they weren't that close anymore, a short-term friendship—how could she 'said' that?

"…that time when Rin and Kasane-san went away and we ended—"

"—I never say anything about my brother's existence to anyone…" she said, accidentally cutting Len.

"…that time, you left because 'your brother called you and you have to get home because your parents'…"

"That time when we visited Rainbow Ice? But my parents are away…" she said while raising one of her eyebrow, curious about the source.

Then he gave her a blank look of desperate, "Never mind,"

And that was when she finally realized that she _did_ say that, "O-oh, right. Sorry…" she said, couldn't help but grinning. "And after that I made you pay, right? Sorry about that as well, then…"

"…it's okay…"

"So, how about the 'my brother' talk? Wanna continue?"

"…does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No… not at all…" she said and readied to answer his next question.

"…how could Rin doesn't know about that?"

Gumi looked down, "About my brother… Rin doesn't know about that… _yet_. I became Rin's friend since… We were still in the kindergarten… Right," she paused for a while, thinking of something.

A smile curled up on Gumi's face after that and she spoke, "My brother lived with my grandmother, and I lived with my parents near Rin's house…"

"…is that so?"

"…n, more-less…" she said, "And I just got to be with my brother again when we were moving to… America. Well… Now we live together…"

"As for Rin…" Gumi continued, "I haven't told her about my brother… Well… I never talk about him to Rin before I moved away… Until now, so…"

Gumi realized something. Something rather 'important'… "So, Kagamine-kun… How about you?"

"…about what?"

"Rin and you…" she said, looking away, "Rin is separated from you as well, right?" Gumi asked purposely. With this way, she could know who this Len is really is.

"…Nakajima-san, but I know that you've found out the truth," Len said calmly, "I'm not her brother,"

Gumi looked at him for some moment.

"…so that's true…"

She kicked a random pebble in front of her, "Rin doesn't have a brother, that's what I know…"

Len was going to ask something, but Gumi managed to spoke before him, "You're going to ask something about her? But let me explain something first…"

"You know that Rin's parents had died years ago," she said.

"That's true…"

"…Rin told you about that?" she asked and he nodded. "I moved away from my old house—beside Rin's old house, that one in front of the small flower garden—to my current house after her parents died…"

"…why is that?"

"…I don't know, seems like it has nothing to do with that, but… It happened like that, I moved after her parents died…"

Since Len didn't comment, Gumi continued right away, "And before that, her brother died,"

She greeted by another silence.

"Uh, it's… Getting more personal, I guess… Better not talk about that… Sorry," Gumi apologized.

"…no," Len said, continuing the conversation, "Rin had a brother?"

Gumi opened her mouth but couldn't find a right word to say.

"Well… Yeah, she had…" she confirmed.

The three of them used to be together. Gumi, Rin, and…

"Len?" he asked.

"W-what?" Gumi asked, slightly surprised with his… Question?

"…Kagamine Len-san is Rin's brother?"

Gumi waited for 10 seconds before asking back, "You're talking in third person?"

"…I don't,"

She waited again for another 10 seconds, "From where did you know that?"

She got no response. What had made him muted?

Gumi got slightly confused. Rin's brother had died, and there beside her, was a person with the same name as Rin's deceased sibling.

Then who…

Right when she looked to her surroundings, she realized they were in the cemetery already. It was empty as usual, that place never gets too crowded. The leaves on the too thick trees got blew by the wind, making a somewhat spooky sound, worsening the already dark place (although she had gotten used to that).

Usually she walks alone, but it wasn't like that at that time.

She walks alone, and she went to the Kagamines' grave—she doesn't even know why she visits them often, she just does.

Kagamine. Rin's parents…

"…may I ask something to you?"

…and her brother.

"Sure…"

_"I wonder… Will we stay the same for the next 10 years?"_

"Now you know that Rin's brother had died. Then…"

She looked down at her feet, sighing and looked up again.

"Who are you?"

Who…

"…I don't know."

* * *

~~In a rush, in a rush (in a rush a lot lately)... Sorry if there are some errors...

Reviews just don't come easily, eh...? But will you press that button please? (Eh, but don't do that if this story doesn't really deserve it...)


	27. Chapter 27: Belief

~~**I forgot to say thank you in the previous chapter. **Double thank you for everyone who read, reviewed, alerted, favorited... Or even just noticed this story!

I was going to update last week, but school's being a...

I said I just move the flashbacks to this chapter, but actually this isn't all, there are about... 1,300 more words of flashback which I move to the next chapter...

But this is confusing!

Since the scene is still the same with the previous chapter... The Gumi-Len moment continues... (And the lack of Rin continues! No!) But I think the flashback is the thing which make this chapter long(er)...

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

"…I wonder what your brother and his girlfriend are doing right now, Rin… They don't go on a secret date, nee?" Miki said carelessly while picking something from the market's rack.

Teto took this seriously and looked at her red-haired friend, "I don't think that Kagamine-kun and Gumi-chan was… Or _is _in a relationship like that…"

"T-they do! Gumi-chan just doesn't want to admit it! I saw them walking together hand-in-hand!" Miki retorted.

Rin ignored Miki and Teto's bickering and looked at the sky from the convenience store's glass window, wondering…

"Ah… I wonder what…"

* * *

Chapter 27

* * *

"…eh? How can…?" Gumi asked after processing the words in her brain for a about a minute.

"I… I don't remember anything... Before I met Rin for the first time," Len said. Gumi didn't say anything and waited for him to continue.

"…since I didn't remember anything… Including my name, Rin just… Call me 'Kagamine-kun' for a reason…"

Strange.

Too strange.

Gumi could think about the reason. Rin called him that because of their similarity—she thought everyone believe that Len (that person beside her, not Rin's real brother) is Rin's brother because of that, they looked alike.

Coincidence? No, there wasn't such thing…

"…Rin went to this cemetery to visit her parents…" he continued, "And… She took me along with her because…"

"…because?" she asked right away when he didn't say anything after that.

"The reason is not important…" he said, "But maybe she was going to go shopping with Kasane-san after that…"

They continued walking.

"…there, she told her story about her parents, how they died when she was still six and… There… We… Talked about Kagamine Len…"

Len just didn't know how that sounded really… Awkward for Gumi.

"…and she doesn't remember anything about him, I think…"

"That's… Right," Gumi said, looking at her shoes again, "Aside from that gravestone, she doesn't know about his existence…"

"…ah," he commented, "…strangely that name sounded…"

"…like you've heard that before?" she asked when he paused, thinking for a good word to put that up.

"Ah, right. And I remembered… It's my name. Adding the previous Kagamine…"

Gumi opened her mouth and spoke in an almost inaudible voice, "…like that?"

Len looked at her with a weird stare, "…yes?"

"At first, I think Rin remembered about him, but no eh?" she smiled, and that smile disappeared within 5 seconds, "Truthfully, I…"

"The first time I met you, I…" while she said that, she looked at something in front of her, as if someone (or something) was behind Len.

"What?" he asked.

"Eh, nothing…" she said, waving her hands, "Eh, um… The first time I saw you I…" then she looked at her back. She got a weird stare again once she did that.

Gumi didn't know why she felt nervous just because of _that_.

"I don't believe it, I can't believe it," she said quickly while looking away, "I mean, I was really… _Surprised_."

"Huh? Why—"

"And Rin said it, you're her brother. But of course, I don't believe it," she said.

"Wait, Nakajima-san," he said.

She raised one of her eyebrow, "Yes?"

"Do you… Know me?" he asked slowly and carefully.

She thought for a moment before answering, "No, I don't… But maybe I do… I don't know…" he gave her a questioning look and she continued, "You know, it's a bit… Complicating but well…"

"Then why you said… You were _surprised _seeing me… Like that?" he said and added quickly, "Uh, you don't really have to answer that, I'm… Not going to ask you about personal stuffs and…"

"…but it's just you… I think it's okay if I answer that…" she said, glancing to her right, "Oh, we're nearing,"

"Nearing?" he asked.

"Kagamine," she answered shortly, "Actually I'm here to visit them and…" she looked at him, "I assume you have another business on your own so…"

"No, actually I'm going here as well…"

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really? Visiting Rin's family?"

"Well… I… Uh…"

"…but even if you say like that… You're not Rin's brother or… Well… I think Rin had accepted you as her 'brother'…" she said, putting her index finger on her lips, "Well, you had changed her life… And you know, she stays away from the trouble lately…"

"I noticed that as well…"

"Oh, here we are!" suddenly Gumi chimed with a cheery voice which didn't really suit the circumstances.

As Gumi said that, Len just stared at the gravestones which belong to the Kagamines front of him.

"About how Rin, Len and I used to be together… And the accident… Maybe you think it's strange for me to remember something like that…" she said, "But well… Let me ask… Do you remember about your childhood and your friends at that time?"

Len looked at her confusedly. And that was when Gumi waved her hands frantically, "O-oh, sorry… I forgot…"

"It's okay Nakajima-san…" he said, "I'm okay with that fact that I…" he trailed off but continued again, "The only thing I want to know is just who I really am…"

"…like that?" she asked, feeling that she had asked something like that before but ignored it anyway.

"…uh, yes. That's why I come here… Maybe I'll know something by visiting the Kagamines…"

"I got the point…" she said while nodding, "And… May I continue the story?"

"E-eh, of course… Sorry for interrupting the story then…"

After he said that, she glanced at him.

So she had to tell her story to him, who she hardly know?

…they had spent a time together for a day, though it was _accidental_—they had no other choice—but still… They had, right?

But were they… Friends?

"Uh, yes…" she started, "It's hard to forget something like… Something terrible happened in front of your eyes… And all you can do just watch everything, unable to prevent that thing from happening…"

He glued his eyes to her. She was glancing at the gravestone.

"He died in front of me."

Those words flow out smoothly from her mouth, her facial expression didn't change as she said that. While she stayed calm, he widened his eyes.

"…what?"

"I want to tell about what had actually happened—something that Rin doesn't even know _anymore_, or so I thought…" she said, "…I never told this to anyone before—except my mother, but I want you to know this,"

"Why me?" he asked.

She smiled, "I don't know. Maybe because… It's you."

* * *

"A bright day, clear sky with white clouds… A perfect weather just like in those fictions," she said, "That day didn't turn as bright as the beginning at the end…"

* * *

_"Gumi! Let's go to Rin and Len's house, mom had to do something with Lily-san…"_

_Gumi looked at her mother with that blue-green eyes of her, currently she was drawing something yellow and greenish—something that an adult could never understand, you know what a 6 years old child will draw…_

_"I'm still drawing, mom!" She replied back in her cute childish voice, half yelling because she could only hear her mother's voice, but the said woman was nowhere to be seen._

_Her mother raised an eyebrow, confused. Gumi didn't really like drawing, but why was she drawing? "Okay, I'll be at the Kagamine. Come when you've finished your drawing, 'kay?"_

_"Right~!" Gumi replied, still busied with paper and crayons._

_"Don't do anything else other than drawing, and remember, come over when you've done okay? Don't do anything else other than coming…"_

_"It's okay mom, I'll come over even if mom have came back here already… Byeee!"_

_"Bye, Gumi!"_

* * *

"She had gone to the Kagamine's house, she had to do something with Lily-san… You know, Rin's mother… I was left alone in my house. After I finished drawing I went out, locked the door then took the key with me, then I went to Kagamine's house"

"I saw Len in the garden in front of their house."

* * *

_Gumi walked alone to the house next to hers. Since it was close, her mom allowed her to walk alone there, besides cars hardly ever passed in front of their humble houses in the peaceful neighborhood._

_After she walked for a while, she spotted someone in the small garden. Knowing who it was, she shouted from the other side of the road, "Len!"_

_Len looked back at her, then greeted back, "Gumi…"_

_"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to make her voice loud so he could hear her well._

_"Picking up flowers…" He replied shortly. "…is this okay…? Rin asked me to pick 30… No, 20…"_

_"What are you going to do with that?"_

* * *

"He was picking the flowers, saying that Rin asked him to. He didn't want to tell me what were those flowers for…"

"After he finished picking up the flower—wasn't that long since I came and talk to him, less than a minute—he got out from the garden, and ran to the house. I was still standing there, waiting for him so we could walk together into the house,"

"When he was running across the street a truck came from nowhere in a high speed… And there, I just watched everything… Not trying to do anything to prevent that from happening… The truck just… Hit him and…"

"I went over him—his crumpled and unmoving body—and stared at him in horror. I could also see blood everywhere and flowers scattered, surrounding him. The mixture of blood and flower smelled… Horrible, if I can say… Then Lily-san—you know, Rin's mother—came out then saw me and… _Him_."

* * *

_Gumi was still kneeling near her friend's body when she heard the door of Kagamine's house cracked open, a woman's voice followed after that, "Gumi-chan, are you here yet? Your mom is wondering about your where—"_

_Lily didn't continue her words as something caught her eyes._

_Gumi was standing on the street, eyes locked to something in front of her._

Something_... Or _someone_ covered in red._

No_._

_Lily widened her eyes at the sight. A _crumpled_ body, possibly_ a corpse_ in front of that 6 years-old._

_At that very moment, she couldn't believe her own eyes._

_She wasn't seeing that._

_She wasn't seeing _her own son_ covered in blood and _flowers_._

_And Gumi... Realizing the existance of someone else behind her, Gumi turned and saw Lily. Lily's shocked eyes met Gumi's blue-green irises which held the same expression, "...Lily-san..." she muttered._

_Lily walked closer to the unmoving body. Kneeling down, she called him._

_"Len?"_

_She waited for an answer._

_She got nothing._

_Slowly, she grabbed his hand and flinched._

_Cold._

_No heartbeat._

_No breath._

_She sighed heavily and shakily, then turned to Gumi who was still watching them. "Gumi-chan... Get into the house... Rin's waiting for you"_

_Gumi flinched at the sudden call._

_"But don't tell anyone about this, okay? Especially Rin..." she continued._

_With that, Gumi turned away and walked into the house._

_Before turning away, her eyes caught something._

_Tears in Lily's eyes, flowing down to her cheeks._

* * *

"I walked in and acted like nothing had happened, like what Lily-san had told me,"

* * *

_"Ah, finally you came, Gumi!" she said, greeting her child as if it was her own house._

_Rin looked away from something she was looking at and saw Gumi, "Gumi!" she greeted cheerfully._

_Gumi smiled back at her friend—a 6 years-old child hasn't really understood the real meaning of 'best friend', so… Friend, "Rin!" She greeted back. After that, she remembered that she had something in her pocket, so she put it out and showed it to Rin._

_"Rin, I drew this!" Gumi said, waving the paper with a(n abstract) picture. Rin looked at the paper, following it with her eyes. She tried to grab it with her petite hands and failed miserably. Then she pouted cutely._

_Gumi's mother saw this and warned Gumi while shaking her head with a smile on her face, "Gumi, act nice to your friend…"_

_"I'm just kidding…" Gumi replied with a grin, then she put the picture on the floor so Rin could see it as well, "Here, I drew us… Me, Rin and Len playing together…" She explained as she pointed at the green and yellow 'things' in the picture._

_Rin clapped her hands right after Gumi finished explaining, "Right! Len and I are going to make something and 'another something' for…" She trailed off, realizing something, "…Gumi, why are you here?"_

_"Eh, what's wrong Rin?" Gumi's mother looked at the bow-ed girl rather worriedly, "Sorry, I'm the one who asked Gumi to come here, I thought you want to play together…"_

_Then Rin smiled sweetly, "It's okay Nakajima-san, we'll play together… And Len too!"_

_Gumi quickly looked at Rin._

_Rin noticed her sudden stare and asked while tilting her head to a side, the (__**huge**__) bow following, "What's wrong?"_

_Gumi looked away to the door, "Nothing…"_

_"…okay?" Rin 'asked'. "Ah, anyway… If you're looking for Len, he's outside… Picking… Something," she ended it up with a smile._

_Nakajima looked up from her phone (which appeared from nowhere) then looked around, "Ah, Lily-san's outside as well, looking for him…" She said, trying to peep outside but it was impossible since the outside view wasn't visible from that angle. She turned her head back to the phone once she felt it vibrated._

"Something happened, won't be back for a while. Don't talk about Len to Rin, if she asks, say he's still picking the flower –Lily"

_Knowing something was _terribly_ wrong, she quickly looked at Gumi._

_Mother instinct, she knew something was bothering Gumi._

_She turned to Rin and spoke to her, "Ah, Rin…" She started. There was no need to be nervous to a 6 years old child…_

_"Hn?" Rin said, tilting her head._

_"Gumi really wants to play with you, Rin-chan…" She said as sweet as possible, sugaring her worried voice, "Why don't you take something and play together while… Waiting?"_

_Rin's eyes widened in excitement at Nakajima's bright idea__, "Right!" She said, jumping from her seat (the floor) and headed to her room, probably taking a toy._

_When Rin was finally gone from her sight, she turned back to Gumi._

_"Gumi… You know what's wrong _there_, right?"_

_"…I…"_

* * *

"Even if I act like nothing had happened, I was still wondering about what happened... A 6 years-old child just won't understand that... But somehow... That scene just kept replaying again and again in my head."

"At the end, I understand the meaning of 'death'. I... I knew, Len isn't going to come back... Forever... And I thought about Rin's feeling about being left like that... But the truth is... She..."

"She talked, she laughed, she joked, she jumped, she ran, she spoke, she ate, she played... I was quite surprised that she acted like the usual Rin... And I found out... It was _the usual_ Rin..."

"At first, I was worried about Len's sudden 'disappearance'... Or it supposed to be like that to her... But no, she only said..."

* * *

_"Uh well... Since Len is still out there... It's okay for us to play together, just the two of us! We'll wait until he comes back, and we'll be together again! Two plus one, becomes three!"_

* * *

"She believed that he would come back while I knew that he wouldn't come back... Even when I said something to her, doubting her belief... She denied it."

* * *

_"No, he will! Len will come back! I'm his sister, I know him more than you do!"_

* * *

"...of course I was surprised with her words. I couldn't do anything more but let the thing flowed with the time. I thought… She eventually would understand…"

She grinned, "I sounded like I don't really care about him, hm?"

He looked at her face while processing her story into his head, "…maybe."

"No, I don't stop making her believe the truth—he won't come back. He just won't, but she kept insisting that he would…"

She looked up to the sky which was getting a bit darker, "But there's something I don't know… Until now," she continued, "About Rin, because… Everything went normal until…"

* * *

_Gumi buried her head in her dress while leaning on the swing post in the playground near their—Rin and her—school, mumbling something with a muffled voice._

_"I wonder what Len is doing right now…"_

_The creaking noise of the swing that she heard before stopped suddenly. She found Rin looking at her with curiosity in her eyes. Then Rin __opened her mouth and spoke._

_"…Len? Who is that person…? A-ah, don't tell me now Gumi, I'll figure this out by myself… Uh, let me guess… Ah, it must be your friend!"_

_Gumi froze._

_"So my guess must be right, then!" Rin exclaimed happily when she noticed that._

_"…Rin?" Gumi asked slowly with wide eyes._

_And Rin just smiled innocently as she answered,_

_"What?"_

* * *

"I thought something happened… Something that made her forget about Len… I don't know…" Gumi said, more to herself. "Maybe everything is too much for her, and she ended up being like that…"

"But now, I start to believe what she had believed before." She added at the end.

"…what is it?" Len asked. Gumi's story was interesting so far and he wanted to know more.

He didn't know why.

Maybe because it sounds like… It wasn't a something new for him, it was like he had seen it before.

But how? And why?

Gumi's voice cut his short thought, "I start to believe that he will come back even though it's impossible for the dead to be alive again but… Maybe a miracle will occur… Or, it _is occurring_." She gave him a quick smile before she continued, "I saw… Someone who looks _exactly_ like him—sure, Rin looks like Len, but they're not _exactly_ the same… He made me think that my friend… Came back from death. At first, I was scared—I mean, who wouldn't of you saw someone who looked like someone who was supposed to be dead?"

"It turned out that it isn't just his appearance that matched Len's—his personality is the same." She let out a smile from her heart, "But he's not Len, he doesn't know me before we greeted. Even like that, being with someone like that is enough to make me happy.

'Someone… Looked like Rin's deceased brother?' he thought. Curiosity started to build up in his mind. 'Just if I know that person, I can guess how 'Kagamine Len'-san looks like…' But the only reaction he gave her was just a,

"…really? That's good for you,"

"…and you're not asking anything about this person?" she asked, looking displeased by his reaction.

"And may I know who this person is?" he asked, indirectly admitting his curiosity.

He thought he had done something wrong because as soon as he asked that, she turned her gaze at a random direction, avoiding his eyes.

That didn't last long. She looked him directly in the eyes after that and asked, "…have forgotten already?"

"W-what?" he asked back, really not expecting that kind of question from her.

She sighed in desperate, "…that time at Rainbow Ice… Before I left…"

_"__You really remind me of my old friend…"_

His eyes widened a bit, "…eh?"

"Of course I wouldn't be that surprised if _you_ have the same name, but different look and personality. But…"

"Kagamine-kun, you look and act just like Len…"

* * *

~~**I don't think my English has gotten better**...

This chapter is sure, full of lines.

The 'Kagamine-kun' and 'Len'... Gumi's referring to different person but it sounds the same for me... *fail*

Does this chapter turned Gumi-Len?

I don't understand... How to reply the reviews? I'll reply the reviews for chapter 25 and 16 here, then...

CluelessLeaf-san: (Does that mean it is written properly?) I know that! Poor Rin-chan... And I'm glad~ (About the lost thing, I'm lost as well...)

CheshireGrel'Len'1297-san: N-no! Your review is useful! I'll try to finish this! (...and my English is bad)

Plouff-san: I have nothing else to say but 'thank you'!

DokiDokiKyuuChan-san: And here is the update!

And thank you for all the reviewers!

Will you give me 8 reviews if I ask for this? I mean, I'm not that kind of person who ask for a certain number of review when the story isn't good at all—though I **never** see something like this, every story has its own positive and negative side, and the negative side has to be reconstructed so the story becomes better! (I'm going off-topic here...)

I'm saying too much here.

So, review please?


	28. Chapter 28: Len

~~Thank you for anyone who waited for this chapter! Uh...

Thanks to the school, **I couldn't update last week**! Maybe I'm going to update once every two weeks...

...I don't say anything about turning this into LenxGumi (because I won't, this is RinxLen :D) But they sound good together! Like, um, takamatt's 'Life is beautiful' and... Nem's 'Aa, Subarashiki Nyan-sei' ('Ah, a Wonderful Cat's Life' → Or so I thought *shot*) and... Uh, what else?

Anyway, the Gumi-Len moment ended in this chapter! Whoo_—_

Okay, so I really turn a chapter with about 5,000 words into 3 chapters, and turned to be 10,000 words if I make those three chapters (this and the two previous chapters) into one...

Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid!

* * *

Miku jumped to the upper floor of Mikuo's house with her wings. She landed on the balcony which had two doors. She grabbed the knob and twisted it, only to find the door unlocked.

She cocked her head, 'He's not locking the upper door because he thinks that no one wants to rob his house? How careless… Anything could happen, Mikuo…' she smirked as she pulled the door open and walked inside without folding her wings.

She went down to the kitchen through the stairs. Some feathers fell from her wings, making a trail of feathers behind her. As she stepped the last step, she could smell a scent of a certain vegetable.

'Negi!' her eyes widened in excitement, legs automatically brought her to the source of the 'scent'. And there on the kitchen table, was a Negi.

She took it and bit it. Then she squealed in delight as the delicious Negi touched her tongue.

'…I've mentioned that, anything could happen… Including this…'

* * *

"Oh shit, where does that teal-haired _witch_ go?" a yellow-haired girl yelled into no one in particular as she walked angrily on the street. Her yell caused some random passerby to turn their heads at her for a short moment.

She continued to stomp her foot harshly on the pavement, but stopped once she realized that she didn't know where to go.

Another 'set' of curse mumbled under her breath as she pulled her phone from her pocket and typed;

_To Miku:_

_ "Where the hell are you, teal-haired _freak_? –Neru"_

She closed the flip after pressing the send button.

"Ah, afternoon, Miku's friend." someone greeted.

Neru turned her head to the source of the voice and there he was, Miku's brother whose name she didn't remember, standing just behind her.

She tried to recall his name… Sounds like 'Miku' but there's something at the back which makes the name _strange_.

Oh, 'Mikuo'.

"I'm not her friend, thank you very much," she replied sarcastically, "I'm searching your stupid sibling 'disappeared' from the café, teal bad-tasted dove! And as her unlucky sibling, you supposed to know her whereabouts! Now tell me!" she continued with finger accused to the teal-haired boy who looked confused with her words.

Mikuo eyes her strangely (apparently because of the dove part), "I have no idea…"

Neru grumbled something that couldn't reach Mikuo's ears, and they began to walk to the same direction.

After some minutes of silence, Neru spoke up.

"…it's just me or something _not good_ is happening and somehow it involves you and your annoying sister…"

Mikuo grinned sheepishly, "No, I feel something bad is happening to something belongs to me…"

* * *

Miku threw the remaining Negi to the trash bin while her eyes wandered to the room she was in. Teal paint colored the wall, white unused bed was lying in the middle of the room. On the corner, there was a table with dolls and other toys which was really dusty.

She plopped herself to the bed, causing dusts and feathers fly away from the previous place. Her head was buried to the pillow which was still good despite being not used for a long period of time.

"…stupid Mikuo…"

* * *

Chapter 28

* * *

_Rin stared at the TV screen which was showing a show with a princess involved in it. Probably she had something in her mind (related to the show) at that time because after that she suddenly said, "Usually princess wears crown!"_

_ Len looked at her with a huge curiosity. After all, he noticed that Rin's word was somehow… Unfinished, so he asked, "And…?"_

_ Rin smiled widely and exclaimed happily, "I want one!"_

_ Being the smarter one, he thought of something. To have one, they had to obtain one, so he thought a way to 'obtain' that. Maybe they can make it? "Well… From what it made from?"_

_ She put on her cute-childish thinking pose, "I… don't know… It looks glimmering gold… Maybe it is made by gold? A lot of gold!"_

_ …but gold is expensive and they couldn't get it easily, right? "We don't have any gold…" He stated._

_ Then she clapped her hands, seems like she had another idea, "We can make it from paper and colored paper!"_

_ After she said that, their mother called them to eat. They said "Yes!" in reply and they ran to the dining room._

_ "Well, I think we can make it after eating…" He mumbled. But she could hear it anyway._

_ "Of course we can!"_

_ They couldn't help it but talking about it when eating—both of them want to make it as fast as possible._

_ Rin looked uncomfortable when eating. It was like she really wanted to finish her food quick because she needed to… go to the toilet._

_ Their mother, Lily, noticed this, "Seems like both of you are planning something…"_

_ Rin answered excitedly, "Yes mom! We're going to make a crown!"_

_ Lily put on her excited face—she was really excited… Who won't? Knowing that her children were creative, "Really? That's creative!"_

_ …apparently, both of them didn't understand the meaning of 'creative', so Rin asked, "Creative…?"_

_ "When you can make anything from a single thing, or you could think about many things to make, it means that you're creative." She explained._

_ Feeling pleased because her mother complimented her, Rin smiled, "Yay! I'm creative!"_

_ Lily smiled back, "Of course you are, Rin…" She said, then she remembered something, "Ah, but seems like we're out from paper… Your dad is out buying some…"_

_ Rin's eyes widened hearing this. Lily thought that Rin would cry or do something like that. In fact, she exclaimed 'another plan' eagerly, "Aww… This is bad… Let's change to plan B! We're not going to make it tomorrow!" After that, she got a confused stare from Len who didn't recall the 'existence' of the 'plan B'._

_ "Of course you can, but there are many things that can be turned out to be a crown!" Lily cheered them up._

_ "Like…?" Rin asked._

_ "We have cloth, beads, plastic… Many other materials… Actually you can use _anything_ if you're creative…"_

_ "Because I'm creative…" Rin started, "How about using living things?" She asked._

_ "Are you sure?" Len asked, unconvinced with Rin's idea. That means they had to _kill_ the living things first then use them? Of course that sounded horrible…_

_ She looked at her brother, thinking for a moment, "Plants? No hard damage will do!"_

_ "That's good!" Their mother suddenly chimed in, feeling proud of her children (although that sounds… _Pathetic_, but she couldn't help it…), "Leaves, stems, branches, fruits…"_

_ "Flower!" Rin added in, feeling that flowers would be the best material for making crowns. It's colorful, smelled good, and beautiful after all…_

_ Their mother nodded in agreement, "Len can pick it up, right?" She said, knowing that if it's Rin who pick it up, she would jerk the flower harshly and broke it completely._

_ Lily sweat-dropped at her bad thought of her own child._

_ Rin nodded enthusiastically, "Both of us working!"_

_ She expected the same enthusiasm from her brother, but all he gave her was a blank stare with disappointment in his eyes, "…am I not allowed to make one as well…?"_

_ She panicked, worry filled her eyes, "Ah! __Does Rin make Len-kun sad?"_

_Lily laughed lightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere, "Both of you can make it…"_

_ "T-that's right!" Rin said, trying to cheer her brother up, "You will make one for me, and I will make one for you! I'll be the princess and you'll be the prince!"_

_ Lily laughed seeing those two, "Nice idea, Rin… Now, both of you had finished eating, how about making it now? Mom have to clean the table, Gumi's mom is going to come,"_

_ "Un!" Rin said, dragging Len away._

_ "So… Flower?" Len asked while Rin was still dragging him to the living room._

_ "Yep! I love flowers anyway… They smelled good and they're colorful! If we do something to the flowers maybe we can turn it into a beautiful crown!" Rin said excitedly._

_ "Ah… So… How many?" He asked. There's no way he would pick the flower carelessly, it's the same like killing them… Less is better…_

_ "30?" She asked back, unsure with her answer, but the way she said it was too innocent, like picking 30 flowers is _okay_._

_ "Too many?" He 'asked', "We have to take care of the ecology, Rin-chan."_

_ She thought for a moment and then agreed with his statement, "Of course we have to…" Then she counted with her fingers about the amount of flowers, although the accuracy of her count was questioned. "How about 20?" She offered, though he still gave her that look of… doubt._

_ "Eh… Do you think it's _still_ too many?" She asked, "We're going to make crowns for the two of us and… Ah! We can also make a bracelet for Gumi-chan! Is that okay?"_

_ Finally he accepted her offer, "Okay…"  
She smiled and she pointed to the garden right in front of their house through the window, "There's a small garden full of flowers just in front of our house~" She said, "Eheee, can you pick some flowers for us?" she asked sweetly._

_ He smiled back at her, "Yes!" and he dashed outside._

_ He picked the flowers as fast as he could, Rin was probably waiting inside the house, but he still picked it up carefully, not wanting to break it. If he really break it, Rin would be very disappointed._

_ …he wasn't going to let that happen. After all, he also wanted to make a flower crown for Rin, if the flowers were broken, the result wouldn't be good as well…_

_ When he was almost finished with his 'job', he heard someone called him loudly, "Len!"_

_ He saw Gumi at the other side of the road. Being calm as usual, he greeted her back _not_ with yelling, "Gumi…"_

_ "What are you doing?" She asked, making her voice loud so he could hear her._

_ "Picking up flowers…" He said, picking one more flower, "…is this okay…? Rin asked me to pick 30… No, 20…" He said it like he didn't actually want to pick the flowers._

_ "What are you going to do with that?" She asked again—it's obvious if she asked anyway, you do things with a reason._

_ Len couldn't tell the reason to __Gumi_,_ Rin said she wants to make a bracelet for __Gumi__, so… Well, he couldn't tell Gumi._

_ "It's okay if you don't want to tell me…" Gumi said, "I'm going to your house now…"_

_ Hearing that, he collected the flowers (that were unknowingly scattered everywhere) and got out from the garden. He ran across the street where car hardly ever passes._

_ Too bad a truck came with high speed and he didn't notice it at all._

_ He managed to see the truck just an inch in front of his eyes before it hit him really hard._

_ He didn't really know the rest of it, everything he saw was blurred and it was too hurt to move._

_ Too hurt to breathe._

_ He started to feel cold…_

'…I haven't delivered it to… Rin…'

_ And he knew it…_

'…the flowers…'

_ His life was slipping away._

'Not yet…'

* * *

Gumi waved her hand in front of his eyes, "Kagamine-kun… Welcome back to the earth…" she said in a small voice, "You make me worried there…"

Instead of moving or doing anything else, Len just stared at Gumi, successfully creeping her out even more, "Wh-what?"

Was this Gumi… The same Nakajima Gumi from before…?

"Are you okay? You look pale, Kagamine-kun…"

He arranged all the information he had gotten and combined them so it would make sense into one—one important information about who he really is…

One: His name is Kagamine Len.

Two: Kagamine Rin's brother had the exact same name.

Three: Gumi said he looked like Rin's brother.

[Does that mean they're the same person?]

Four: Rin's brother had died at the age of 6.

[It couldn't be that, it wasn't possible…]

Five: Gumi's little story of her past was somehow familiar—really familiar, just like he had saw it before. No, he thought he had really seen everything with his eyes. Watching with Rin, picking up the flowers… And being hit by a truck…

Six: He knows the feeling of being on the verge of death.

[_They_ has to be the ones who has something with him in the past—Kagamine Rin; a girl who just happened to live in the house he somehow ended in (and he still questioned on how he ended there), Nakajima Gumi; Rin's friend from the time when they were still in the kindergarten, and Kagamine Len; Rin's brother who died in an accident.]

Seven: He's definitely not a human.

Eight: There were 2 people he didn't recognize who somehow, knew him—Hatsune Miku and Akita Neru. And Miku even called him 'Kagamine-sama'.

Nine: Miku had died. Same thing had been confirmed by Hatsune Mikuo, her older brother.

Ten: He had to go.

[But even the impossible thing could become possible.

An impossible thing becomes possible…]

* * *

It called a 'miracle'.

* * *

He widened his eyes as he took a step back from his current standing position.

'It couldn't be…!'

He took another step back—which happened to be a wrong step, and stumbled with his other foot.

Gumi caught his hand just in time.

"Kagamine-kun! What's wrong?" she asked again for the—maybe—third time, this time, her voice filled with more concern.

Getting on his feet, he looked at her right in the eyes, "…Gumi?" he asked slowly.

"…what?" Gumi replied after 5 seconds of silence. She looked surprised with Len calling her by the first name, but went back to asking question to the blond boy, "But seriously, are you okay!"

He averted his gaze from her and snatched her hand. She quickly released her grip on his hand and put her hand away, "…I'm okay, just a little…"

"You're not feeling well?" she asked, "Maybe it's time to go back now, besides I have to go with Rin and the others…"

"_Ah! We can also make a bracelet for Gumi-chan! Is that okay?"_

Gumi… Gumi that Rin mentioned from… Before?

Is that really Rin—the one who lived with him… More accurately, it was him who lived with her—or it was someone else who looked like Rin? And Gumi as well…

More importantly, what was he seeing before?

Something happened when the three of them were still a little child?

A flashback?

His… Memory?

'_Ah, in case you're wondering… Yes, you're right. That's your memory… Well, maybe I'll call it… 'Your memory before you died', that's it.'_

'Who?' he asked in his head, knowing that he was hearing something that he knew he shouldn't. Besides, Gumi didn't turn her head to the source of the voice (that was likely didn't exist), maybe he was the only one who heard that…

'_Nah nah, calm down… You don't want that green-haired girl over there getting more worried seeing you panicked like this, right?'_

Len followed what the voice inside his head told him and calmed down.

'_Just giving a little clue over here. You know me from before—I know you don't remember but well… The story about our first encounter doesn't matter anymore for now. Oh, right. I'm… A voice inside your head.'_

'More specific please. I don't get what you mean by—'

'_Hold on,_' the voice cut him, _'I never told my name even in your past. So I guess you don't have to know that…_'

After the voice finally stop speaking, he looked back at Gumi, who gave him a blank stare in return.

'That vision from before—'

Apparently that voice in his head loved to cut him, '_I have said that clearly… Maybe you're not paying attention… Or too surprised with my sudden 'appearance'. I just have to repeat it, then…_' it said, '_That's your memory before you died. The flowers, Rin, and Gumi…_'

His facial expression turned into a saddened one, 'So I am really…'

He looked at the grave that has _his_ name written on it for one final time before he dashed away from that place, leaving Gumi who was still standing there.

After running for some seconds, he could hear Gumi calling for him from behind, but he ignored her.

'_Len,_' that voice came again, '_...why are you running away?_'

* * *

Len didn't stop running for a full 20 minutes, that was when he could see a more familiar scenery in front of his eyes. The neighborhood where Rin and he lived in.

'Ah!' he thought when his house (though it was Rin's) finally came into view. He knew what to do next. Enter the house and rummage the 'things' that Rin had in the attic—something he spotted everytime he went there to play the piano, but he never really paid his attention to those 'things' and Rin didn't seem to know about it's existence. He knew rummaging people's belonging isn't nice at all, but…

In that case, that thing he was 'looking for' was supposed to be his as well since…

'I was her—'

He couldn't finish his thought because he suddenly fell down, caused by the overwhelming fatigue.

That was when he thought, how stupid of him, running for that long with full speed…

'_…although you could learn to use your _wings_ instead of your legs to 'run away', it's less tiring…_' that voice commented, somehow mocking him.

Len ignored it and concentrate on catching up his breath.

10 seconds…

30 seconds…

45 seconds…

A minute.

Instead of feeling better after catching his breath, he felt worse. Dizziness started to come and everything looked blurred in his eyes. He thought he was going to pass out but…

There? On the street? How…

Stupid.

He chanted that 'stupid' word again and again—something he had never done before—while standing up. Everything became even worse when he got on his feet.

And it was really hard to tell where he was heading to, since black spots had filled his vision, making it almost impossible to get home. He sighed in defeat and lean on the wall (at least he thought there was supposed to be a wall there), waiting for his consciousness to slip away completely and wait again until he woke up _there on the same spot_, _or_ until someone found him and helped him.

'_Let me get this straight. You're _not_ going to pass out _here_,_' the voice said, '_Just walk and I'll guide you, I can see everything perfectly,_'

In his half-conscious state, he walked slowly with that voice guiding him. Actually it was strange for 'a voice in his head' to be able to 'see things', but he didn't care. At least he could get home _properly_ with his feet…

'We're _in front of the front door now. Put the key in and let's get in…_' the voice paused a bit, as if thinking of something, '_I hope you can still see the keyhole, I know it's difficult but…_'

He couldn't help but lean to support his body on the door while searching for the key in his bag with that restricted view area. After he finally found the key, he put it into the hole and rotated it. He opened the door and walked in, after that he closed the door immediately after he got in. He sighed in relief knowing he was at home already.

'_Welcome home_,' the voice said, congratulating him… Somehow.

He muttered weakly, "…ah yes, I'm ho—"

* * *

Rin looked at her basket, checking the supplies that she had taken from the shelves of the convenience store. Milk, eggs, flour, rice, vegetables and fruits, plus some bottles of mineral water.

She rummaged her head to find something she might forget, "Hm, what else…?" she asked herself. She hadn't gone shopping in the convenience store by herself for about a month—she thanked Len for buying the supplies for the two of them, and he said, "Ah, since I always pass there everytime I get home from the café…"

Sure he said that, but actually sometimes he went there from the school, then put the groceries at home, and went to the café after that.

…maybe he was too kind… Or maybe it was his gratitude for her…

…for doing what? Letting him stay in her house? It didn't really matter for her actually, she likes—no, _loves_ it.

Actually she could shoo him away from her house anytime, it was her house after all… But no, she loves (yes, loves) being accompanied by someone else in her house.

And after she thought about that twice, she realized.

It supposed to be a _wrong_ thing to live with someone else with no blood-relation and what? He's a **boy**!

'W-well, it won't last… Forever right? He'll go away eventually and—' Rin stopped at her thought. She wasn't supposed to think about that again. Forget the fact that Len won't be with her forever, forget it…

Somehow she couldn't.

'Forget it! Forget it! Forget it! Forget it!' she said to herself (in her head) again and again, hoping the 'spell' would work and poof—

She sighed again. "Maybe I should check on Teto and Miki… And in case Gumi does really come…" she muttered to herself as she made her legs move, taking her to the 'destination'.

…and she could hear a loud shriek just after she stepped one of her foot out from the section she had been in, the fruit section.

"This is impossible after all—!" Miki said with that loud voice of her, making Rin wondering about what the two of them were doing—

And there in front of her eyes, was a 'mountain' of French bread, stacked neatly, stood firmly, reaching the roof of the store. Some employees had warned them not to do something like that, but since they had said, "We'll pay for this for sure! If we don't, go chop our heads!" the employees finally gave up on warning them and went away, leaving the mountain and…

Rin just realized that there was a _broken_ mountain of cherries next to the successful French bread mountain.

"The hell…?" she said, planning on saying it in her head but turned out to be mentioned with her mouth.

"Ah, Rin-chan, come here, come here!" Teto waved at her, signaling her to come. Rin walked closer to the twin-drilled girl, that bewildered face from before was still on her face. After she came closer, Teto suddenly circled her arm on her neck, "Well, look at my masterpiece! A mountain of French bread! This is surely, Kasane Teto's greatest masterpiece!"

"Uh, sure…" Rin replied, a form of sweat-drop fell from her head.

"But Rin-chaaaan~" Miki complained, "A mountain of cherries is **impossible**!"

"Eh, of course…" Rin said, as if it was obvious (but it was obvious) that something like that is impossible.

_Almost_ impossible.

"Say, Rin-chan…" Miki said again spiritlessly, "Lucky you to love oranges, it's easier to stack them together…"

'I know that… Cherries are hard to be stacked… Same with French bread. But how the hell she managed to…' she thought, and immediately praised Teto for her masterpiece.

"And Rin-chan, aren't you going to do the same thing with oranges instead?" Teto asked her.

In her head, Rin thought:

'Sure, making something like that sounds… _Looks_ fun, but…'

"No, thank you… I have to pay for this first…" she said, looking at her shopping basket, "…and I don't want to bring that many oranges home, it's too troublesome…"

Hearing her answer, Teto moved closer to Rin, "Where is the usual Rin-chan who goes, 'Ohh, if I do this, I might get in trouble!'? Besides, you said that 'it's too **trouble**some', means you don't want to get in the trouble?"

"Teto-chan, I thought 'trouble' and 'troublesome' is different…" Rin commented.

"That 'troublesome' thing could turn into a 'trouble'!" Teto said.

"But seems like Rin doesn't want to be troubled… _For this time_, eh…?" someone said in a small voice, almost like a whisper in Teto's ears. Teto turned her head and spotted a certain girl who wore a goggle on her head.

Miki noticed Gumi faster than Teto and tackled her down, "Gumi-chan, you come!"

Gumi grinned, "I've said I'll come if I'm finished, right?"

"…anyway, what were you doing?" Rin asked.

"…" Gumi gave her no answer, and walked to the French bread mountain, "Good job, Teto-chan!"

"Right? Even Gumi-chan praised my masterpiece!" Teto said cheerfully, "Now it's your time to give up!"

"I thought we're not competing!" Miki said.

"Because we don't," Teto said calmly.

Miki pouted, which only lasted for 5 seconds and approached Gumi, "Since you're here, let's buy something together! Miki and I had combined bread and cherry together, and it's good!"

Less than 2 seconds, the two of them had disappeared from Rin and Teto's sight.

Teto sighed with a smile on her face, "Well, let them have fun together, as a new-made friend!" she said, 'tidying' the mountain.

"Un, I'm going to go to the cashier now, Teto-chan…" Rin said, started to walk away from Teto.

"Uh, yeah. Bye!" Teto said from behind, waving her hand although Rin couldn't see it.

* * *

When the cashier-person was scanning her purchased things, Rin heard her phone rang once.

_From Gumi:_

_"You're going home, right? You better are –Gumi"_

Rin tilted her head, "Huh?"

_To Gumi:_

_ "Oh, sure… I'm getting home… –Rin"_

'…I wonder what's happening…' she thought while texting her friends.

_To Teto, Miki:_

_ "I'm going home, byee! –Rin"_

She took the plastic bag (of course, degradable!) from the cashier-person's hand, and walked away after paying.

She could feel the weather that had gotten colder, since it was getting dark already when she stepped out from the convenience store. The rest of her walk went calmly.

Too calm.

She sighed as she pulled her phone out from her pocket and took her headphone out from her bag. She plugged it in and wore the headphone on her head after she took off her ribbon—it was getting on the way.

She browsed for the songs available in her phone, but found nothing 'good'.

Not knowing why, she ended up reading the messages.

_From Gumi:_

_"You're going home, right? You better are –Gumi"_

"…" she looked at the screen blankly. Why was she asking her to get home. She was sure it wasn't because Gumi wanted her to go away.

Maybe something else.

Couldn't think of something else, she began to type something in her phone.

_To Len:_

_ "Home already? –Rin"_

She closed the flap and continued the walk in silence once more.

She walked for another 10 minutes after that, and her house was finally visible from her angle.

She stopped herself right in front of her house, looking at it.

Dark.

'…maybe Len hasn't gotten home yet…' she thought as she looked for her key. After she found it, she proceeded to open the door.

It wasn't surprising that the house was in a complete dark. She used to find her house in that 'state' everytime she got home late in the night (why? Because of the school thing… She had to finish a certain project in groups until night… Or got trapped in Teto's… House, "Stay here until tomorrow!" "Sure, Teto-chan!" "Teto, could you and your friend calm down a bit!" and she got kicked out by Teto's brother after that).

…before she met Len.

She locked the door, and walked to the living room—where the lamp switch was located—carefully, trying to not hitting something… Like walls…

But she thought she had stepped on something… That wasn't supposed to be there…

She looked down, and examined it more carefully—

…more accurately, it was a '_someone'_.

"Eeeeehh!"

* * *

~~I don't know why, this story is getting confusing... If there a repetitive sentences, sorry for that! After all, I have to make the dialogues in the flashbacks to match with the one in chapter 16 and chapter 27...

Neru said that Mikuo is a teal, 'bad-tasted dove'... 味 (taste), 鳩 (dove), 悪 (bad)... Mikuo. I randomly assigned 'Mikuo' to some random kanji, and that's the result *laugh*

Oh, 4 reviews! Haven't got something like this for a long time... I'll reply them here!

CluelessLeaf-san: It's like... The revelation, eh...? I don't know what to reply... But replying your review means 'thank you'!

Plop-san: Forgetting Len like that... Rin-chan is a meanie, I know that~ Of course it's useful, I'll know that someone reads this and want me to continue!

DokiDokiKyuuChan-san: He's dead from the beginning of the story! *shot*

Mars Djinni Spark-san: Thank you! Ohoho, this is RinxLen, don't worry~

I... Think it's obvious already that Len is dead from the chapters before... Well~

No GumixLen, but this is turning to be... Incest? Since it's revealed that Rin and Len are siblings... I'm not even sure about this...

Review please! And for those silent readers... No, you don't have to review... As long as you read this, I'm happy... But please review... If it's possible...

I am sure this story is full of errors, and no one cared? orz

50! I want the reviews to reach that '50' number! Well, I can only hope *laughs*


	29. Chapter 29: Hurt

~~I got 50+1 reviews... Thank you very much for everyone!

Yes, replying~

DokiDokiKyuuChan-san: I was worried because many people dislike twincest... But I'm glad you're okay with that twincest idea!

Aurora-chan-san: ...actually that'll be explained much later, do I dissappoint you? But thank you for reviewing~

Mars Djinni Spark-san: Thank you for helping! Actually I prefer a non-cest story for Rin and Len, don't know why this turned to be like this... And I don't expect a Rin-stepping-on-Len scene to be a cliffhanger either~

CluelessLeaf-san: LOL!

Chrisalys-san: Thank you for liking this story!

Many people put a '-chan' on their username, making me feel like a weird person putting a '-san' after that '-chan'... But I couldn't help it, it's your username~

By the way, does anyone have a Twitter account?

* * *

"Ahh, an orange… Floating… High… Looks delicious…"

…was Rin really _did_ talking about oranges in that sleepy voice or maybe it was just his imagination?

Len snapped his eyes open, though the only thing he could see was the darkness inside… His room? How did he get there…?

"Another orange… Fresh…" Rin's voice could be heard once more, so he decided to get up from the bed to see her.

And there she was, sleeping on the edge of the bed. Her head rested on the bed and the rest of her body holding her figure in sitting position on the floor.

"I want oranges… Oranges…"

Was she dreaming about oranges?

"…can't reach the floating oranges… Help me…" she said.

He just watched her silently. He took a glance to the digital clock sitting on the table (right, he bought it since a digital clock looks 'less-terrible' than an analogue clock).

22.33

Night already? He thought he got home in the evening… And what had actually happened?

"Len… You can fly right…? Get some oranges for me…" Rin mumbled again in her sleep.

…and there, she asked him to help her get the floating oranges…

"…but don't leave me…"

…

Huh?

"…don't…"

* * *

Chapter 29

* * *

He looked at her as his hand reached her head, "…Rin?"

He didn't touch her, though. She stirred after that. Len just spent the rest of the time to sit there and think.

Think about… What?

But he heard ruffles after that and noticed that Rin had woken up. She just sat there unmoving, her head was still on the bed as she blinked sleepily, then she looked around and saw a digital clock on the table. She read the clock with her eyebrow raised.

Wonder what was in her mind…

"There's a digital clock here?" she asked to no one in particular and she looked around again. She stopped looking around as she saw someone.

"Rin… Are you awake?" Len asked uncertainly.

"Eh… I'm awake. Thank you for asking, Len," she answered with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. The sleepiness in her voice had gone… Somewhere…

After that, Rin 'stopped' and looked at Len with an annoyed look, "Wait. Len, that's supposed to be my line!" she said, tone rising. She coughed (or it was more like clearing her throat, something like 'ahem') before continuing, "So, are you awake?"

"…I'm awake…" he said, not getting what was her into.

Rin looked away while pouting a bit. A 'something' not-so-Rin, "Ah, I-I'm glad you're awake, then… I… Thought you're not going to wake up for… Ever…" she said, voice decreasing in every word she said. "Y-you know…" she raised up her voice again, "Now I think… Y-you're mean!"

"Eh— Wh-what!"

"You scared me!" she said while hitting the bed softly with her palms, "I was really worried!" and she looked back at him, making the two of them stare at each others in silence.

The (awkward) staring moment just continued until Rin narrowed her eyes and glanced somewhere, seemed to be realizing something.

And after that, she jumped up from the floor to the bed, pushing Len down as she landed.

So their current positions were Len lying on the bed with Rin above him.

…awkward?

Rin was the one who made the first move by getting off the poor Len, "S-sorry…" she said, looking away, face slightly reddened.

"Uh, it's okay…" Len said while getting up once more.

Rin sent him a quick glare before pushing him back down. But this time, she jumped off from the bed immediately.

"Don't get up!" she said.

"…why is that?" he asked not-instantly.

She looked like in a deep thought before coming up with a useless answer, "…just don't…"

There was a quick silence before Len spoke up, "…what happened?"

"I fou—" Rin cut off her own sentence upon realization of something, "…you know, that's supposed to be my line _as well_…" she said, making her head made an impact to the comfortable bed.

"…sorry then…"

She began by rubbing her head, "Let's see… Just say that I came home _after you did_, but thinking that you weren't back yet considering the lights were still off, then I ste… I found you unconscious near the living room," she said, almost saying 'I stepped on you' but stopping in realization—that was a truth he didn't need to know…

She sighed as she got no response, "I know that isn't helping at all, but that's the only thing I know…"

He thought for a while. He was running home (because of what?) and suddenly everything darkened. Then… He walked home in that half-conscious state and…

…what had actually happened then? He couldn't remember that much…

Rin said she found him unconscious so… He must be passed out, then…

…somehow it makes sense…

"What happened before that, then?" she asked.

He looked at her and spoke unsurely, "Uh… I was _walking_ home and…"

He didn't continue the sentence, just repeating the 'and' part over and over, making it somehow echoed.

"You don't remember? Well, I guess it can't be helped, then…" Rin sighed, "But you must be walking into the house since I found you there…" she flicked her hair a bit for a pause, "Maybe you were too tired and ran out of energy…"

Rin engulfed herself in a thought.

"Right! So I have to make something for you to eat!" she said enthusiastically.

Rin + make + eat (food) = definitely not good. Not good _at all_.

"N… No, I can cook by myself…" he said, horror could be seen in his face.

She smiled darkly in that darkness of the room, making it even creepier than it already was, "Sorry Len, but you're not leaving that bed…" and she walked to the door (no idea how could she walk easily without tripping anything in a dark room like that, considering she had stepped on some_one_ who shouldn't be stepped before). Before closing the door, she peeked in once more, "I won't poison you, don't worry… Leave it to Rin!"

It is true that Rin's cooking isn't poisoned, but who knows…? Maybe she accidentally added something inedible… Even worse, _poisonous_. That was serious, it's about his life—eating Rin's cooking can threaten his life.

"I'll take some moment to prepare… You can take a nap while waiting… Or change your clothes, you're still in your school uniform you know…" she added.

He nodded and she closed the door.

"…but how am I supposed to change my clothes if she doesn't let me leave this bed…?"

* * *

Once she heard the soft click of the door behind her, she used that door to lean.

"Something… _Something serious_ must be happened…" she muttered to herself in a small voice, making sure that it couldn't be heard by anyone else but herself.

'Besides, the message Gumi had sent me… It sounds like… She actually knows what had happened to Len and 'asked' me to go home…'

'…scratch that, maybe what happened to _them_. Both of them said they wanted to go somewhere after school without mentioning the place… Now it sounds suspicious…'

She finally pulled her back from leaning on the door and walked to the kitchen after a sigh escaped from her mouth, while trying to get those things off from her mind. In the kitchen, she pulled out the utensils and ingredients she needed and started making porridge.

It wasn't that she didn't know how too cook—she knew how, but sometimes… No, _always_, 'this is too this' and 'that is too that', making the result becomes a failure.

While waiting for her cooking to be done, she hummed a melody of a random song she had heard somewhere, _still_ trying to get 'those things' away from her head.

But she failed and she ended up scrolling the list of contacts in her phone to find someone who might have information about that.

'Wait, I don't have the number or e-mail address of someone related to Gumi or Len **at all**!' she screamed in her mind. 'Well, maybe I'll start with Teto-chan…'

_To Teto:_

She kept looking at the straight line that kept blinking, didn't know had to write or ask what to her read-loving friend.

'Maybe I could try asking someone else…' she thought, 'Miki-chan?'

_To Miki:_

"_Miki-chan, did you know where Gumi went before meeting us up in the convenience store? –Rin_"

She ended up pressing the 'delete' button and made the screen went blank with blinking line again. She thought it was too… A weird question to ask to a friend…

And a 'great idea' came in her mind, 'Why don't I ask straight to _Gumi_? It's not that hard right?'

_To Gumi:_

"_I'm wondering where did you go before meeting up with us… Have something good to give or tell me? –Rin"_

She made an annoyed face as she held the 'delete' button again, then she began typing again.

"_Did you see Len… Somewhere before? I want to know what had actually happened to him –Rin"_

"There," she said while pressing the send button, putting the phone away then looked at the half-cooked porridge.

"…"

Finally she realized something.

It seemed like she wanted to get into someone else's business.

"Aw shit, I've sent the message already…" she cursed, her previous action of stirring the porridge turned to jabbing it with the ladle. "Eh, sorry porridge-san…" she said, stopped jabbing and started stirring again.

She had nearly jumped when her phone made a 'ring' sound, then she quickly grabbed the phone from the table.

_From Gumi:_

"_Well… I did? Did something happen there? –Gumi"_

Rin just smiled seeing her reply.

_To Gumi:_

"_Nothing –Rin"_

* * *

"What's with that face?"

Gumi looked up from her phone to her brother who was strangely, examining her face.

"Nah, have you ever… Accidentally made someone felt jealous?"

Gumiya had walked away to the kitchen to take some carrots, but still answering his sister, "Why do you ask something like that? That doesn't like you at all…"

Gumi flipped her phone's flip close and looked at her brother who had joined her on the couch. "I feel like doing it to my friend."

He suddenly circled his hand over her shoulder, "Nah, there you are, talking to your brother about your problem! That's what a sister should do to her brother, Gumi… Finally after years being with—" Gumi had jabbed his cheek with her phone to 'pause' him.

"Right, right… You're right, Miya," she said.

"So, what else? You sure have something else to tell me… Tell me more," he said.

Gumi sighed, "Like I've said, I made… I _make_ my friend jealous because I get too close with someone who she likes when she hasn't realized that feeling yet."

"…no wonder girls have so many problems…" he commented.

"Ah, you're not helping me at all, Miya!"

"Well, sorry for being helpless!"

"Second," Gumi suddenly said, "About my friend I had visited before…"

"Hm, that dead one?" Gumiya asked with a wondering voice. After that he yelped, feeling his foot being stepped.

"I'm not going to tell you then…" she said, walking to her room and locked herself in.

She could hear her brother saying (yelling) a hundred lines of apology, but she decided to ignore him. She wasn't planning on telling him after all.

She lied on her bed while checking on her phone.

'She doesn't say anything else…'

_To Rin:_

_"Sorry –Gumi"_

* * *

After Len finished changing (couldn't help but leaving the bed, there was no other way…) he just sat there on the bed with the blanket covering his leg.

…better pray for his life than taking a nap, Rin was seriously going to make a food for him…

Praying for his _life_ when he wasn't even _alive_?

Then the previous events started to play in her mind.

Right, he was visiting 'Len' (no, _himself_. Now it sounded awkwardly ridiculous) with Gumi… And there he realized something…

He was Rin's brother.

He was Gumi's friend.

And he had died since… A long time ago in an accident.

But questions were still running in his head. What had—

Then the door slammed open rather harshly.

"Len! I'm done with this!" Rin exclaimed loudly, one hand was thrown up to the air and the other hand was holding a tray with a bowl on it.

"…right…" he replied, couldn't really hide the unhappiness—again, it's about his dear 'life'…

She smiled, "Well~ I made porridge for you, hope you can enjoy this!" she took a step into the room and walked to the desk, "It's okay if I turned this on, right? It's too dark to see in here…" she asked, pointing at a desk lamp sitting on the desk.

"Ah, it's okay…"

She clicked the button and the desk lamp went on, "Ah, better…" she smiled in satisfaction, "Eh, you had changed your clothes? In the dark?"

"Uh, kind of…"

"Well…" she began as she positioned herself on the edge of the bed, sitting on it, "Let's get it started, then. I'll feed you…"

"Eh…" he looked uncomfortable with this idea, "I can eat by myse—"

"Nooo I'll feed you," she said, scooping a spoon of porridge and bring it closer to Len's mouth, "Say ahh?"

"R… Rin… You have cooked that by yourself so now let me eat by myself…" he defended, trying to make an excuse.

Rin put her finger on her lips, "But I think it is a _tradition_ to feed… Vulnerable people like… Babies… Sick person…"

…what tradition?

"Just let me feed you!" she demanded in a way he couldn't resist so he just agreed right away.

At the end, Rin feed Len (who was… Relieved, knowing that the porridge tasted much, **much** better than what he had expected) who had finally agreed. The atmosphere in the room lightened despite the lack of light.

"How is it?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"It's good…" he said truthfully—that porridge was _strangely_ good…

"Heheh, I'm glad…" her smile replaced with a grin, "The last time I tried to make porridge, it tasted like a total crap…"

Len paused eating. Somehow he felt… Lucky…

Rin giggled, remembering her 'previous porridge', "You know, I threw up instantly after tasting it…"

'…her cooking was really poisoned!'

"Heh, maybe it's a miracle that this time, it turns good… Did you pray before eating… So you won't be poisoned like that eh, Len?" she asked playfully, "Your wish must be granted~ That's great!"

Rin never changes.

She'll always be that cheery girl with smile on her face…

Like what she did when they're still in kindergarten…

_"Let's make a flower crown!"_

"We had… Made the flower crown, right?" he asked suddenly.

She looked at him, curious, "Yeah, we had. But what's with the sudden question anyway…?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Now you mention that," she said, "I feel… Somehow, like… Er, I was going to make a flower crown _long time ago_, but something happened…" then she laughed, "Ah, surely it's just my imagination or something like that… I don't remember doing that at all~"

Right? Doesn't change at all. Just like Gumi had said, Rin became like that because…

Because of him?

"Uh, Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry…" Len said.

"Eh what? I don't see you doing anything wrong at all…" Rin replied.

"For doing something you might not… Remember," he replied quickly.

"I might not remember?" she asked herself, "Ah, whatever is that, apology accepted…"

"…you sure about that?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I think I _really don't remember_ because I have no idea what you're talking about… What makes you feel _that_ guilty anyway?"

"The trouble seeking,"

"…don't say you're worrying about _that_," she said, making a dark face, "It was my job from long time ago, it had nothing involves you, and… To be honest, I've quitted."

Len didn't say anything after that.

"Len?"

"What?"

"Say something," Rin said, "You're scaring me if you stay silent like that…"

"Ah…" he looked at her, who nodded back at him. He sighed, "I went to the… I… I visited _him_,"

Rin blinked twice, "Who?"

"…"

Rin widened her eyes and yelled, "W-wait, you remember something!"

Len looked at her wide-eyed-ly, startled with her sudden outburst, "…sorry," she muttered, "But… Do you?"

He nodded slowly, "I do."

She sighed, "There, I'm not going to ask you what, but I'm glad that you do," and she smiled after that.

A smile that didn't really reach her eyes.

But still… She smiled to him.

"Um, yeah…" he replied, smiling back at her even though having some of his memories back didn't make anything better.

In fact, he felt that everything became… A mess.

While thinking, he widened his eyes when he heard _someone_ sighed, "_…_there_. Your opinion?"_

'…he's still here' Len thought, slightly annoyed.

'_Let me get this straight, I'll be here _stuck_ with you until you _died again_…_'

'…and why is that?'

'_Hm. Not going to tell you about that. By the way, I haven't congratulated you, so… Congratulations on getting home safely… Though at the end you collapsed near the door and now you're here thanks to Rin-chan, who _pulled _you here… Aaaand, leaving the house in the dark is not a good thing, try to not do that again next time, I'm sure you won't like it if someone stepped on… You got my point._'

'…but from where did you know that?'

Somehow Len could feel the voice _smiled_, '_You think I use your eyes to see? No, I don't… Eyes aren't needed at all for me to see… So, I can see everything clearly even when you're sleeping._'

And Len found it creepy, 'What!'

'_Don't worry, don't worry! No need to be worried at all! I won't know _everything_ about you, there's one thing that I won't know…_'

'And what is that?'

The voice chuckled, '_I don't think you'll get that interested on knowing me more, Len. But… I won't know about your real purpose of asking that, I can't know your feeling._'

"Now, how do you feel? Better?" Rin asked.

"Eh, uh… Better…" Len replied quickly, a bit startled.

'…_you won't change after all, huh…? I thought by doing _that_ will reset everything back to normal position…'_

'Eh? What do you mean by that?'

'_You don't stop,'_

'Stop… What?'

'…_stop lying._'

"…what?" Len said, accidentally saying out his thought.

"What 'what'?" Rin asked him back, while periodically stirring the porridge in the bowl, "…maybe I shouldn't stir this thing?"

"…well, it's better if you don't… Sorry," he said, somehow finding something to cover that up.

Rin giggled, "I'll stop then," she said and stopped the stirring.

"…hey, Len…" Rin said, "Do you think… Everything will stay the same until the end… I mean, the two of us, being together like this?"

Len looked at Rin's face, which was filled by worry, "I…"

'…that's right, we can't stay like this forever… The two of us don't…'

'_Don't what?'_ the voice interrupted, '_If you ask me, the two of you can be together forever because… Well, it's the fact that the two of you are related by blood, but… It won't be the same anymore if one of you had…_'

'Died.' He continued.

'_Well… Yeah._'

"I… Hope we can be together forever…" he continued his unfinished sentence, forcing a smile on his face.

Still, he highly doubted that.

'It's impossible, we can't.'

'We can't.'

'We can't.'

'…we can't.'

'_You won't._'

Ignoring a strange feeling inside his chest, he tried to spoke to reassure Rin about something that wouldn't happen, but the result turned to a stutter, "R-right, I… I think we will…"

'**Not**.'

He felt like something sharp had stabbed his chest, and kept on stabbing, making his chest felt…

Hurt?

'_Are you hurting?_' the voice asked him.

'…no, I'm not…' he said, lying to the voice.

Seems that Rin noticed him and she asked, "…what's wrong?"

There was no point denying it anymore, he had to admit that it hurt.

Hurts.

Hurts.

Hurts.

'It hurts…'

His chest was squeezed like… Like a…

He didn't care about what made it hurts, it was just… Too hurt…

But why—

"A… Ah, are you okay…? You're… You're not poisoned by my food, right…?" Rin asked in panic.

He shook his head and opened his mouth to talk, but instead of a voice, he choked with his own… Sobbing?

"W-why are you crying…? D-does anything hurt? O… Or what?" she asked again in a worried voice.

…was he…

Crying?

He wiped the tears immediately, but he just couldn't stop crying.

'_You lied, didn't you?_' the voice asked again, after that it laughed, '_You really shouldn't do that to me, Len. Now for your 'reward'… Maybe I'll let you remember _something_…_'

'…why…?'

'_Because remembering your past… To be exact, your past after you died, is something you didn't want._'

But he got nothing but the hurting feeling increased, 'Now what again…?'

'_I've made you remember, right?_' the voice asked in an annoyed tone, '_If you feel like being hurt more… That's it, you've remembered the pain from before._'

What pain?

Why?

Then he realized that Rin had been staring at him with a worried look for the whole time.

So Rin had saw—

He pulled the blanket to cover his face—Rin should not see his pathetic state…

"What's—" she started and he cut her off.

"D-don't…" cut by another sob.

She didn't say (or do) anything after that. All he could hear was his sobs.

Which was getting more pathetic.

'Enough already, stop it!' he yelled in his head.

'…_let it stop by itself…_' the voice answered, still in annoyance.

"It's… Okay," Rin's calming voice broke the chain of the continuing sobs, "I'm here for you…"

He felt a hug.

A warming… Hug.

Somehow it felt comfortable…

"It's okay if you want to cry… Just cry… I won't see it, your crying face…" she said.

He did what she asked him to—crying even louder while having his face buried in her arms and she patted his head, in the same time ruffling his hair gently.

But he thought…

There was no need to cry anymore with Rin on his side.

For the time being, everything would be okay.


	30. Chapter 30: Disguise

~~Had a problem with uploading the document, and later realized that the document is password-protected... Didn't even realizing it.

Ah, gave up, don't understand romance-y things. Have been switching the genre again and again and at the end... Still confused.

Hm, thank you for reading and the reviews and the you-know-what and this is the 30th chapter.

* * *

"If a ruler missing, then what's the problem? We can just look for a new one."

Lily stopped dead on her track towards the library in the huge castle-alike building when she heard that from a certain maid in that place.

After that, a laugh, belonged to another person could be heard, "I don't think they'll search for a new one," she—Lily assumed it was a she—commented after giving a light laugh to her companion, "Hmph, I think we don't even need one. Now with the ruler missing, this world still goes like it previously was… The peaceful world without war and everyone gets along well…"

Lily clenched her fist as she turned her heels and walked to another room where she could speak to _him_. Kamui Gakupo.

She stormed down the hall, loud clicking of her shoes echoed. Some maids greeted her, but she just ignored them and walked even faster.

And finally she reached Gakupo's room.

Not hesitating at all, she knocked the door with all her power. After _the person inside the room_ permitted her to get in, she slammed the door open.

"Masuda-san?" he asked with one of his eyebrow raised, "I thought it was Kagamine-sama who had come back and going to kill me... No, I think it's not happening yet..." after he finished mumbling with himself, he asked Lily, "Why are you here? Have a problem?"

"Right, I... I want to ask something about the... The ruler." and she went telling him the 'story'.

After she was done, Gakupo chuckled, "Someone actually said something like that?"

"It's not funny, Kamui-san. I'm serious." She said.

"Of course I know this is serious, Masuda-san…" he said with a sigh. "There's a possibility that they won't come back here. Although I doubt that because Hatsune-san is a reliable person and for Akita-san… She'll _do anything_ to get back here as soon as possible."

"But—"

Gakupo smirked seeing Lily's expression, "Yes, the 'but'. I don't guarantee that if something unexpected happens down there. And one more important thing. How did he… _Disappear_? We all know it was planned all along—though no one knows _how_, the citizens pay no attention to this, some even don't realize this, and you're the only one who doesn't want to accept this as the _truth_."

Lily sighed, "You… You don't need to repeat that. I know he won't do something like that."

"Now the problem is not about the ruler," he said, making Lily widened her eyes, "It's about your _son_, right? A son who doesn't even remember that you are his mother. I know if the ruler is not your own son, you won't even care about this problem."

He made Lily closed her mouth shut. She couldn't say anything else to deny that.

"We'll consider the idea of choosing another ruler soon, if they don't come back." Gakupo said sharply.

Lily just stared him with wide eyes of disbelief.

'Actually what are you planning, Len? God, tell me this is not happening…'

* * *

Chapter 30

* * *

"What's with the annoying light..." Rin groaned tiredly as she felt something rather annoying hit her eyes.

Realizing it was the (annoying) light of sun, she turned her head away from the source of the light and she was able to open her eyes properly and safely.

She looked at the curtains which covered the window curiously. Now there was a yellow-colored curtain covering the window, and the sunlight could go through easily? Maybe the color is too bright? Or the curtains weren't thick enough?

She was going to buy a new one later.

She rubbed her eyes to erase the remaining sleepiness and check on the time, knowing it was a school day and what she recalled was a test on that day in the first period…

Her eyes wandered to the digital clock nearby, it read 05.32. Well' she better raise up from the bed and get prepared…

She looked back to the bed where Len still slept peacefully. She would wait for a minute or two and wake him up afterwards.

He… Made her worried.

Really worried.

She never felt that worried before… Even though it was just him crying…

It wasn't a 'just' for Rin.

Why was he crying? She knew that Len didn't even believe himself that he was crying but… What had made him cry?

Maybe something that he remembered made him cry? He _did_ say that he remembered something…

And she didn't feel pleased with that. All she wanted was leaving Len forgets about his past.

'I'm… Selfish, am I?' she thought to herself. There was nothing wrong with Len remembering his own past but…

'I don't want to…'

Knowing that she could do nothing about the crying Len, she just tried to calm him down. It didn't take a long time—in less than fifteen minutes, he ended up collapsed in her arms, exhausted.

"…" Rin slowly directed her vision to the digital clock and she immediately looked back at Len. 'I will… Let him rest for some minutes then. Maybe I should prepare myself first...' she thought. And after that, she walked out from Len's room and walked to her room to prepare herself for school.

* * *

Rin took a set of fresh uniform and then walked to the bathroom to have a bath.

While having her body soaked wet from the shower, she hummed a song. The bathroom's tile wall made her voice echoed, making it better than it already way.

'…I never heard Len sang before…' Rin thought, 'He always puts lyrics under those musical notes, and what are those for if he didn't even sang it?'

And thought began to fill her head.

'Maybe he can't sing… but he doesn't seem to be that kind of person, maybe he's not confident enough to sing it out? Or maybe… What again? He simply doesn't want to do it?'

Apparently, thinking too much had made her spent more time in the bath than usual. When she finally realized that she had been in that room for about 45 minutes, she freaked out, "Shit! I'm gonna be late then!"

And what she meant by late was 'walk at 6 in the morning and arriving later than usual' when the bell hasn't even rang yet. But because it was Rin, getting early is a must. Though since she lived with Len, she came… 10 minutes later than usual, waking Len up wasn't as easy as it seems.

'Nah, I almost forgot about Len, yesterday I had forgotten and it doesn't turn well…' Rin thought, recalling yesterday's event when Len and Gumi walked in together…

She shooed that thought away and walked back to Len's room, but not before she snatched the only orange on the table and shoved it into her bag.

"Len, I'm done preparing!" she yelled while slamming his door open, smashing it to the wall.

But even with her loud yell and noisy slam, the lump on the bed (Len) stayed still, not moving even an inch.

Seeing this, she shivered in _fear_, thinking about… He wouldn't wake up sooner, then they got late, and late means detention.

_That_.

She walked closer to his bed, "Hey, Len… Wake up…" she said in a low and soft voice while shaking him gently.

No movement.

Rin sighed. She would try once more.

"Um… Len?" she said, and still no movement from the boy.

"…" she paused (from her try to wake him up) for a while, looking at his peaceful sleeping face…

…which was really irresistible (at least for her, come on… He's really cute especially when sleeping…). She wanted to hug him, glomp him, choke him, throw him—

And suddenly she wanted to facepalm so much from her own thought. There was no time doing something like that, she had to wake him up or she would be doomed.

Don't know about Len, she really had no idea… Would he be okay with being late?

"…Len, I'm serious… We're gonna be late if we don't hurry…" she said desperately.

…or maybe she would go alone without him in case he wouldn't wake up at all?

'Oh come on, it won't be _that_ bad…' she thought.

Like what she thought, she heard shuffles from the bed. She walked to the other side of the bed to greet him face-to-face.

"Morning, sleepyhead~" she said with a grin.

No response.

Rin raised her eyebrow, "Len, you're awake right?"

What made him so hard to wake up? He supposed to be better now, right?

…or so she thought.

He pulled the covers up to cover his head, blocking the 'noise'.

"H-hey, don't hide there!" Rin exclaimed, pulling the covers away from him. She could see his face and he looked…

…worse.

"…but can you let me sleep?" he asked drowsily, pulling the covers from Rin.

"Huh what?" Rin asked, confused. "Uh, you're not feeling well?"

"…just let me sleep…" he said with voice decreasing in every word.

"B-but, if you're really not feeling well, I'll let you stay here until… Whenever you want…"

But he didn't give any response. Well, at least for a minute, "…I'm okay, just go without me…"

Rin asked back worriedly, "Are you sure?"

Again, he didn't reply.

'Uh, he fell asleep again?' Rin asked herself, 'Maybe I really have to go without him and give him some more time to rest…' and with that she walked away.

But she wasn't going to go to the school _just like that_. A crazy idea passed in her mind once her eyes accidentally caught Len's wardrobe.

'No matter how many times I want to quit, I just can't quit that easily…'

* * *

It was a very typical day in a certain high school that the Kagamine attend, where there was only a very few students who passed in the hallway—some walking casually, and some running as fast as possible—the others being in the class, listening to the teacher who was busy calling their name one-by-one to check their attendance.

After calling the name of a certain white-haired person with heterochromia, the teacher's eyes brightened seeing the next name. He hid this excitement really well, almost no one in the class see this.

But _someone_ could see it really well in his eyes. That teacher was sure, had something with that certain girl in the class.

"Kaai Yuki," he mentioned her name in the same tune like what he did with the other names. But really, _that someone_ could tell it from a very little difference in his voice, that he felt excited from calling her name and getting her attention... In some milliseconds difference, the said student raised her hand up to prove her attendance.

He almost smiled, but refrained himself from doing so. Even like that _that person_ still could see it, while wondering, 'And she hasn't realized _yet_ that the teacher has a feeling for her like… Seriously!'

Not catching this person's thought (who would?), and not even feeling something _strange_, he moved onto the next name, "Kagamine Rin,"

But no one raised his or her hand.

"Hm, may I ask you as her brother… Kagamine-kun? Any information about your sister?" he asked.

_Len_ stiffened a bit, knowing that the question was directed to _him_ and _he_ had to answer that, "She… She's sick," _he_ blurted out the first thing in _his_ mind, not really thinking about what the teacher would ask _him_ more, while praying for _his_ 'safety'…

…so the teacher wouldn't realize that _he_ was Rin in disguise.

Looking at Len's wardrobe really gave her a crazy idea like _that_.

"…I see," the teacher said emotionlessly, "…Kagamine Rin is absent and Kagamine Len is here…" he muttered, more to himself while checking on the names, "Kasane Teto," he said, resuming the name-calling.

"Here," Teto said while rising up her hand, then Rin's eyes traveled to her twin-drill, the usual hairstyle.

With that, she shifted on her desk, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with her hair which was being tied in a ponytail—though actually it had nothing to do with the shifting. With the absence of her usual white, huge bow and clips, she felt strange. And she was actually wearing a trouser instead of skirt! It was like her legs being _too_ covered with its length, which reached her foot…

Now it was an annoying fact that Len is taller than her (well, slightly taller. But _still_, he's taller), making that trouser being too long for her.

And one more important thing.

Once in her lifetime, she actually felt glad for being flat. That almost nonexistence chest of her had actually helped her with that disguising.

"Now, like what I've announced before… We're going to have a test," the teacher said after finishing with that painful routine of calling names. Groans immediately could be heard afterwards. The teacher sighed at the students' behavior, but brushed it off and he started giving papers to the students.

Once the paper 'landed' on Len's desk, Rin widened her eyes. She wouldn't do that if it was the usual day… but no.

She knows that she never get a bad score, her score always on the top 5. But Len is the one who get an even better score. She might drop his score by doing this test.

And she didn't even study last night... Of course! Getting home finding someone lying unconscious near the door—this was really _not_ a thing she expected to happen—then she had to cook—a Kagamine Rin cooking is a no-no—after that she stayed late to calm her 'brother' down… After that she fell asleep then woke up in the morning…

…what a day.

But the previous thing still bugged her mind. She wouldn't let Len get a _lower_ score just like that. What would he feel if his score lowered?

She sighed, and decided to give it a little try. She started with writing down her name.

_Her_ name, so when she found out that she wrote her own name, not 'Len', she had to erase a letter and change it to make it… _Len_. After that, she moved to the test itself.

And stared at it with pure horror, 'What the f*** is this!' she screamed in her head, 'I understand none of this!'

She ended up doing the test as best as she could in defeat, because there was a way to _boost_ up both her and Len's score…

* * *

"Megurine-sensei~!" Rin yelled while slamming the principal office's door open, making the said teacher looked at the door immediately, hearing a familiar voice of a girl _she actually scared of_.

"Y-yes what?" she stuttered, still surprised with the voice but a slight relief formed in her heart, seeing a _boy_ instead of a _girl_ on the door, "Oh, it's you… Kagamine-kun. I thought you're Kagamine Rin-san for a moment… Hearing your voice…"

"…but I am her," Rin said casually. She took of her hair tie, setting her hair down, "Here, ta-daaah!" while snickering inside, 'She actually fell on it?'

Luka's relieved face turned into an annoyed one, "Wh… Why are you in a boy's uniform?" she yelled.

"…because I want to. And it's not listed in the school rules, anyway…" Rin replied innocently.

"N-now it is because I said so!" Luka said, offending.

Rin stayed silent for 7 seconds before speaking, "I want… I need something…"

"Take it!" Luka said quickly before she could even finish.

Rin blinked, 'It's settled just like _that_?'

Maybe yes, because she had threaten the principal before to tell her biggest secret to every single person in the school if she didn't do what Rin said.

Luka was still wondering, from where did Rin know that thing…?

* * *

'_Len, you're awake? You're such a heavy-sleeper…_'

Len cracked his eyes open, only to find it was bright already outside. The house was empty, Rin had left for school—obviously—he assumed. Since there was no way he would go to the school when it was almost noon already, he decided to go up to the attic to play the piano just like usual when he had nothing else to do.

Though he felt something was wrong with him with his head being heavy. Side-effect from crying all-night?

He could only sigh before plopping back to the bed. Maybe doing that would make him feel better.

Maybe.

He groaned to the pillow after that.

'_Your head's still heavy from what happened yesterday night?'_

Len widened his eyes hearing the voice, while the memory of the previous night flooded into his head at once, 'What—'

'_I just want to say sorry. Guess I went too far, making you remember _that_…_' and it laughed.

His gaze (at particularly nothing) softened, 'Is there something wrong with me remembering my… Past?'

'_Uh-oh,_' the voice said, somehow Len could feel it shaking its head, _'_That_ past? Then what's the point? Everything will go just like what you planned… Like what you _wanted_. Maybe you don't notice it, but Rin-chan has changed that. So far, everything goes well—'_

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' Len cut it off.

'_…you're not supposed to know that anyway...'_ it said not-so-immediately.

'Then why are you telling me that?' he started to get annoyed—it was annoying from the beginning, though.

'_Because you won't remember this anyway.'_

He asked quickly using his voice, "Wa… Wait, wha—"

'_Close your eyes and go to sleep.'_

* * *

Luka was going to give her and Len a perfect score for the test at that day, so Rin didn't have to worry…

But she _did_ worry when a certain teal-haired senior came approaching her, "Kagamine-kun! I bet you can't believe this thing as well!"

Rin stared at him with wide eyes, confused and surprised at the same time, "Wha—"

"Yesterday," he (the teal-haired senior whose name was unknown for her. Hatsune Mi_—something_, she didn't remember) started with grabbing her shoulder, making her tense a bit, and he spoke in a small voice, "You're the only person who knows about me being gay… So…"

'Wait, what!' she stared at him disbelievingly, 'He's… He's gay and Len **knows **that!'

"Yesterday, Akaito said that he has a girlfriend. A. Girlfriend." He said, voice rising in every word. "You know, my heart broke because of that and... And after that... When I walked home, I met that yellow-haired girl who works in Rainbow Ice—Neru, I assume—who called me a 'something-dove' and because of that Miku called me 'Hato-kun' when she knows that! Yesterday was a bad day for me!"

'Wa-wait, I never thought that Len actually befriended this person, I thought they _just _know each other and that's all! And on top of that, he... He just _tell me things about his personal life_! He's totally mistaking me for Len! And this… This is like, he's Hatsune-san's brother, right?'

Something entered her mind, 'Hatsune-san…'

"…hey, Kagamine-kun?" he called. Apparently, she had been thinking too long without responding the senior.

"A-ah yes, Hatsune… Senpai?" she said in her Len-voice, trying to address him correctly.

"You look better than usual," he said with a smile.

Rin had been scared to the limit at that moment while thinking things about 'Len's life isn't as normal as I thought!' and with that statement, she freaked out even more, 'God, let this end! Let this end as soon as possible!'

And how Len would respond to that?

She titled her head to a side and asked, "What do you mean?" after thinking.

He scratched his head, "Well, I always thought you're sick or something like that. I mean… You never look well with the usual tired eyes of yours…"

Oh, yeah. Len and his tired-looking eyes and ghostly pale skin…

_Ghost_.

'But Hatsune-san said they're not a ghost—Len's not a ghost… So, _what_ they really are?'

"I'm glad you're finally okay, Kagamine-kun…" he said, "Well, thank you for listening… Just ignore that…" he lowered his head in defeat, "Nah, I gotta go, bye." And he went away.

And after that, she sighed in relief deeply, "It's finally over…" she muttered to herself. And she didn't miss to write a mental note to herself, to remind Len to not being too close with that person.

And to visit Miku after school. She might know something more about Len…

* * *

There were some minutes until the break-end-bell rang, and Rin didn't know what to do in her free time like that with her disguise that limited her activities. When usually she would talk to Gumi or Teto, now she couldn't do that. What would everyone react to that? Len does sometimes talk to Gumi but… Taking Rin's place to talk with Teto? No.

Rin would love to open the disguise right there, but… No. Just no.

The only thing she could do was sit calmly in front of the desk watching everyone doing their free activities.

'I'm dying here…' she thought when an idea came, 'Hey. Maybe I could try to make songs like Len usually does…' and with that she pulled a sheet of paper and started writing on it.

'Oh well, how about the tune? Ah, the lyric itself is horrible. I just suck at something like this, maybe I'm not talented in music-thing…' she thought, holding her laughter after writing lines of words which did not even make sense. 'I'll just give up, give up~ O-oh, it has a tune!'

"Kagamine-kun." Suddenly someone called. She looked to her right and found Gumi standing next to her desk—no, Len's desk. Gumi peered at her paper for some split seconds before talking again, "Writing something?"

Rin panicked.

'Oh no it's Gumi! _The_ Nakajima Gumi! If I said something not right to her, she'll know that I'm Rin, like, instantly!'

"Uh, yes… You can see it clearly…" Rin spoke before noticing—still, she made her voice lower and all, but no! It was the word! She didn't mean to say it!

Gumi looked back at the paper and commented, "…you're crazy. And let's say that I am stupid."

'W-what now? She found it out already!' more panicked than before, Rin screamed in her mind.

"I actually fell for it, Rin." She said.

Rin sighed in defeat, 'She… She found it out, eh? Guess it couldn't be helped but… Why did she say 'I fell for it'? She knows I'm Rin right?'

Rin still hadn't say anything, but Gumi continued speaking, "I thought you were Kagamine-kun at first… Good disguise, Rin. But there's one thing you forgot about Kagamine-kun." She said while pointing at Rin's right hand that rested on the desk—the paper to be more accurate—while holding a mechanical pencil.

'What's with my right ha—' Rin thought before realizing _something_, '—oh, shit…'

"Kagamine-kun is left-handed if I recall it correctly? Seems like it's obvious that he can't write with his right hand…" Gumi said in a wondering tune.

Rin faked a laugh in her normal voice, "Ahahah, seems like you know that… I don't even know that thing—you know, people who can write with both of his or her hands exist…" she stopped 'laughing', changing it into a forced and weird sounding giggle and faced Gumi, "You know a lot of thing about him, ehehe~ Actually how close are you, Gumi? I mean, to Len."

Gumi turned her with wide eyes, 'What's—Rin?'

She fidgeted, "How close to Kagamine-kun? We're friends,"

"And?" Rin asked.

"And that's it, we're just friends. We don't talk that much either." Gumi said with a calmer voice, "Or are you asking about someone else? I _had_ a friend named Len."

"Are you trying to change the subject?" Rin asked.

"No. You were asking about an unspecified 'Len' anyway… It common for people to have the same name." she replied.

"I know that." Rin hissed, "But I think you know what I meant with that."

Gumi sighed heavily, "It's just… No need to be jealous, Rin… I _don't_ love him. I just like him as my friend. Clear enough?"

Rin let her mouth hung open for some moment before she sighed in relief while asking, "You're not lying?"

"I won't lie to my best friend." Gumi smiled.

Rin looked away, feeling embarrassed suddenly, "So-sorry for being harsh, Gumi… I-I'm just… Uh, that…"

Gumi laughed, "It's okay! I know love is a complicated feeling! So don't worry!"

"Y-yeah…" Rin said with red tint on her cheeks. And suddenly she realized something that she had said something unnecessary… "Uh… Wa-wait! I… Love… Erm, uh… Wait!" she said, hands waved frantically. Her face became redder in this.

"Just admit it already!" Gumi giggled, "You love him!"

Rin denied, "I… I don't!" but feeling her face became redder, she end up covering her face, "Uh…"

Suddenly they heard a loud yell from the door, "Nakajima Gumi!" Both yellow and green head turned to the door, just to find the Furukawa Miki standing near it. After processing what she had seen in front of her eyes, Miki gasped dramatically, "There! The two of you in the classroom, just the two of you! How about Teto-chan!"

"Wh-what Teto-chan?" Gumi asked back, startled. While Gumi did this, Rin took a look around the room. It was true that no one was in except the two—the three of them…

Miki sighed, "First, you were with him. Then Rin-chan. Then Teto-chan. And now you're with him again!" she yelled the last part with her finger accused to Rin. Before Gumi even had a chance to talk, Miki had dragged her away.

And with a blink, Rin was alone in the classroom.

'Even Miki-chan falls for it' she thought, 'Maybe this disguise is a successful one…' she looked back to her paper and wrote something else out of the instant boredom.

…though something bothering her.

'Love… Do I love Len… Like that? I don't even realize it… But really, do I love him? And Gumi's friend… I haven't asked her but… Could it be that 'Len'? The one who had… Died?'

* * *

"…Len, sorry for what happened yesterday, I couldn't visit you properly so… Now I'm here. Uh… What to say, Rin… Rin finally admitted that she loves someone who… Who had the same appearance and personality as you. That person. Does that mean Rin practically loves you not in a brotherly way?" a giggle.

"Yesterday he came here, just for your information. Could you see him? Actually no need to do that, just look into the mirror and you got him… Now I'm still wondering, who he actually is? I'd like to ask you but no? You can't answer me? Or you can? Now I'm thinking of something crazy—maybe that person is you? But it couldn't be like that, I know that…"

She looked at the cloudy sky with a sad smile, "But I still believe that you'll come back… So maybe… He's you without a memory of your past? And apparently Rin hasn't remembered who you are… I said I won't lie to Rin, but it's different if I 'hide the truth'… I'll tell her about the truth when the time is right..."

She finally sighed, "I wonder if you could hear me…?"


	31. Chapter 31: Working

~~Tolue—**I almost forget**! So this is a short chapter I typed in... Don't know how long but...

Yes, thank you for reading, the reviews, and favorites!

* * *

Sun ray peeked through the gray cloud which filled the sky that was supposed to be blue, trying to shine the world with its bright light. However, the wind blew the clouds, _accidentally_ covering the sun, making the sunlight became not visible. The sky looked even darker than it already was without the only source of the light at that current time.

Not so long after that, people started to turn on the lights, and the street light started to light the road dimly.

Sitting still at the roof, knees hugged, wings flapped… Just like an angel who gets lost on the earth in the cruel world.

A voice, belonged to a male teenager could be heard.

"I can hear you… Gumi." He whispered.

A tiny drop of water fell from the sky and landed on his face. He flinched and looked up to the sky.

More droplets of water following the first one, making a rain in less than ten seconds.

However, he didn't move, nor trying to keep himself dry. He sat there, hugging his knees even closer.

He let out a ragged sigh from his mouth.

"…what should I do…?"

* * *

Chapter 31

* * *

Rin opened the café door, just to be greeted by a loud singing of… Someone.

"This is war!" that person shouted (sang loudly) melodically. Rin wondered how could she sing while screaming, and her singing didn't even break…?

Rin started to recognize the song, "Ko… Koisen*?" why would someone sang that song so… Randomly inside a café?

"I'll show you my feelings—"

She watched… Miku—yes, it was her—with a bewildered look, and the person herself didn't seem to notice her existence.

And that was when someone pulled her by the collar and dragged her to…

"…the changing room?" she asked herself after the-unknown-person had stopped dragging her.

"Yes it is!" someone—the 'puller'—yelled from behind. She turned around and saw someone with brown hair and a matching pair of eyes, glaring down at her.

"Kagamine-kun, you didn't come yesterday without any information about that!"

Right, Rin was still in disguise. Because of Mikuo, she came to the café in the Len-disguise to meet Miku and… Work.

The reason? One, she never works before (and the money? She knows some people's secret, like, Gumi—she knew Gumi keeps-in-touch with someone who had dead (but how?)—and Luka… **And many more**. You know where the money came from). Two, she was curious. Three, she still wanted to 'walk around' in the Len-disguise. Four…

To check on 'how normal Len's life is?'. The Mikuo-part made her a bit… Aware of that person. Because no one touches her Len.

'…my mind is messed up…' she thought afterwards.

It started like that, and there… She met Miku who was in her insane-mode, and then, being pulled into the changing room by an-unknown person—

"Sorry… I-I was…" Rin started, but panic came again, 'Wait, what's her name? A brunette… The one who usually beats the blue-boss? What, and… She's the… What?'

"You know what your punishment is, Kagamine." She said darkly.

"Wha—" Rin opened her mouth to talk, but the brunette shoved something in her arms. A fluffy maid-dress—what…? That person didn't know she was Rin, right?

"This is the second time, so here's an additional item, fluffy little-wings and a halo!" the brunette squealed after that. "Next time I'll add cat-ears headband and tail…"

'…what?'

Then the brunette made a shoo-shoo motion with her hand, "Change, quick. And work like usual—but don't forget the girl voice, Kagamine-_kyun_!"

The door closed with Rin alone in the room.

'She didn't find out that I'm not Len… Or she did? Then why did she give me a… Dress? That's good, so I don't have to hide the fact that I'm a girl… But…'

'Or maybe it's… 'She asked Len to wear girls' clothes… Like that? But… She did say this is the _second_ time…'

'Eh, this had happened before? Len in a waitress uniform!'

'…I want to see it.'

She changed the uniform to the frilly dress with the halo and the wings. Then she looked at herself on the mirror. At first she looked at it normally, but then, imagining if Len wears something like that…

An urge to laugh suddenly came, and she held it so she wouldn't make any sounds.

'Hi… Hilarious…' she thought, 'But I think real wings suit him better than this fake one… Oh, right… I have to talk to Hatsune-san…' then she turned her heels and walked to the door.

Once the door was opened, the _loudest_ thing she could her was, "Prepare for a counter attack~"

Her eyes immediately landed on Miku, 'She's still singing?'

"Your kiss opens my eyes~!" Miku shouted for one final time as she ended her song.

And surprisingly, claps from the customers could be heard after that.

"Oh, thank you!" Miku said, waving her hand lightly and spread her smile to greet them back.

Rin took a single step, approaching Miku. But then, a customer called her.

"Coming!" she said in her normal voice. It felt really good to speak _normally_. She walked towards a table which had a '23' number on it, and she slid the menu to the customer (what's with the sliding _again_?). After doing that, she smiled and said, "What would you want to order?"

"One Negi Ice Cream please…" he said while looking down at the menu.

'…_Negi_, seriously… This place is strange…' Rin thought, her hand scribbled down something in the small notebook. After she had done, she asked the customer again, "Anything else?"

And that was when she got a look of his face. Sure, his teal-colored hair was suspicious at first, but…

'Oh… No.'

Rin thought she was unlucky. He looked up and saw her face. Less than five seconds, he made a questioned face, "Eh, Kagamine—"

"Mikuo, good afternoon~!" someone yelled from behind. Rin whipped her head to see her savior, and it was Miku. She was waving her hands to him. "Ah, let me correct it, Hato-kun!"

"Gah, Miku? Why are you here?" Mikuo yelled.

"Let's say… Because I ran away yesterday, Meiko-san made me work for two shifts today…" she said in a wandering tone. "You thought my shift was over some hours ago, hm? Then what are you doing here, want to see Kagamine-sama? Admit it Mikuo, just admit it since the read-haired boy was already said that he has a girlfriend, so… You wanna find someone else to be _loved_, Miku—Hato-kun?"

Rin stared at the siblings' (weird) conversation with a dumbfounded expression on her face. 'Just… What's happening here?'

"I just want to have an ice cream, Miku!" he said, defending himself.

Miku nodded, her arms crossed, "Ice cream _and _Kagamine-sama, sure Hato-kun…"

Then Mikuo grabbed his hand and pulled it down in frustration, "Argh, Miku! You're annoying!"

While Miku and Mikuo were still debating over something not-really-important, Rin used that chance to run to the kitchen. She thought that Miku had handled the rather dangerous customer. But right when she turned her body back, someone held her wrist and pulled her back.

She looked back, 'Hatsune-san?'

"Kagamine-san," Miku whispered near her ear, "Meet me in the room next to Kaito-san's office. We need to talk." And she released her hand.

Rin stared at her for some moment, thinking. After that she walked to the said room.

"…who's this 'Kaito', anyway?" she started to think after walking in a _hall_, with doors… 'And why there's a hallway in this kind of place?'

She saw a door that looked better than the other, so she thought it was Kaito's room. She looked at the door on its left, and opened it.

"Excuse me…" she peeked in and saw nothing but a coach, a TV on a TV table.

And a girl with yellow hair sitting on the coach. Apparently, that girl heard the door sound, so she turned around.

"Nye, Kagamine," she said shortly as she looked away after seeing who opened the door.

Rin blinked twice, "Um, Akita-san?"

Neru hmph-ed, "Yeah, I am. What do you need?"

"…nothing, Hatsune-san asked me to go here…"

After Rin said that, Neru stood up with her eyes glued to the phone on her right hand, and she walked to the door.

"Akita-san, you don't need to go away… Hatsune-san isn't here yet…" Rin said when she noticed that Neru was walking out.

"Hm, whatever," was the last thing Neru said before walking out.

After the room was completely empty—except Rin, of course—Rin stared at the closed door without saying anything.

'Eh, why didn't I ask Akita-san instead? But she sounded pissed… So I was making a right choice…' she thought. 'And it doesn't seem that Akita-san get well with Len… Ah, I'll just wait for Hatsune-san, then…'

She shifted a bit on her standing position before deciding to take a seat. Then wait until Miku comes…

* * *

"Handling Mikuo isn't as hard as you think… But it could be troublesome sometimes…" Miku said, putting her chin in her hand, her arm supporting on the armrest of the sofa.

Rin recalled her first meeting with Mikuo. Sure, she said things like… Bluntly _at that time_ and he didn't fight back...

"Hatsune-san—" she began, but Miku cut her.

"Meiko-san had successfully mistaken you as Kagamine-sama. It… It was… Well~" Miku said trying to make a good reason of the maid-costume-thingy, but apparently she had failed.

"I know what you mean, Hatsune-san…" Rin said, looking down at her feet. "Ah, yes. I want to ask you something..."

"May I ask something first?" Miku asked her, and Rin nodded, "Just call me Miku anyway… And why Kagamine-sama isn't coming?"

Rin looked away, "He's… He didn't come yesterday, right? I think he overworked himself and then collapsed at the end, so I asked him to have some rest…"

"I… Is that so?" Miku suddenly yelled at her in a surprised and worried tone, making Rin back away about an inch. The response Miku got was Rin's slow nod. Miku sighed after that, "Maybe that's why I got a bad feeling yesterday…"

"But he's okay, no need to worry…" Rin mumbled. "Um… May I ask now?"

"Uh, oh… Sure, sorry…" Miku grinned.

"It's okay… But why are you calling him 'Kagamine-sama'? Is he a kind of important person in your place?"

Miku smiled at Rin.

"I haven't told you yet?" she asked.

"…you haven't." Rin replied.

Miku began to make an uncomfortable gaze to the TV, "He's the ruler."

"R—"

Miku cut her before she could say anything, "I know you're going to ask 'what is a ruler?', and so I'll tell you."

Rin learned that Miku is also a creep mind-reader. 'Better be careful then…'

"…if you think like that…" Miku said, startling Rin, "…seems like your mind had been read many times by Kagamine-sama, then?"

"G-gah!" Rin exclaimed loudly, "You read my mind!"

Miku giggled, "Sorry then, I won't do that anymore."

Rin sighed in relief after that, but she was still unsure about that. Miku seemed to have two different personalities, Rin guessed.

When Rin looked back at Miku, she was thinking hard. After about a minute, Miku looked back at her, "Kagamine-sama remembers how to use magic?"

'What again? Are they some kind of mage or what?' Rin yelled in her thought before giving Miku a response, "Uh… I have no idea."

"…but being a ruler… It must be something done by accident…" Miku muttered to herself, though Rin could hear it really well.

"Miku-san, you haven't told me what a 'ruler' is…" Rin said.

Miku snapped her fingers, "Ah, yes! I forgot, sorry!" her surprised face turned into a serious one after that really quickly, "A ruler is…"

Rin waited for her continuation. The atmosphere had gotten heavier in that very short time. 'Why I'm feeling nervous? I used to like serious talk, right?'

"Someone with a great power… Who rules the whole kingdom…" Miku said in a serious tone.

Rin thought while waiting for another continuation, 'Have a great power and rule the whole… Kingdom? That sounds too fictional… Whatever. But someone like that is actually 'missing' and now he's in my house! Never expect something like that at all!'

"That's all!" Miku said, ending the serious talk by clapping her hands altogether and talk with a sweet-sounding voice.

'E-eh, that's all?' Rin gave her a disbelieving look.

"But you don't seem to believe me," Miku said.

"W-well, sorry…" Rin grinned, a sweat-drop form dropped from her head.

Miku sighed, "I'm not lying about the kingdom part, though… But think about it, I won't believe it as well if I'm in your position—I mean, it's too fictional."

'…she said the same thing like what I thought… Did she read my mind again?'

"You know, there are stages in humans' life."

'Why is she talking about life… So sudden?' Rin thought.

Miku gave her a smile, "I won't even believe 'my existence' if I'm in your place, either."

"…what?" Rin finally asked. Things were getting confusing to her.

"How about the living dead, do you believe in it?" Miku asked.

Rin thought for a while, "I… Never thought about something like that before..."

Miku's smile turned to a sad one, "…so it's my fault after all, making you change and forget…"

Rin looked at her quickly, "Eh?"

"Aaaaaaah!" Miku yelled suddenly, making Rin got startled and yelled after her. "We need to get back to work, right?"

"Now you mention it…"

"Hurry, hurry, to the kitchen!" Miku said, ushering Rin out from the room.

"Yes, yes I know that!" Rin cried.

"Remember to work well to fill in Kagamine-sama's absence!"

"Ah, sure!" Rin said and Miku ran before her—although the only thing Rin could see was a flash of teal.

'…weird…'

* * *

~~*Koisen=Koi wa Sensou=Love is War. I know you know that, just clearing things. I don't own the song, it belongs to ryo~


	32. Chapter 32: Erase

~~It has been a month...

A month... Sorry for being late! *bows*

Ellenthefox-san: I know my grammar is... 'Uh', but I found it strange that no one pointed it out... Thank you!

This chapter was written (typed) everywhere—the classroom, the street, even in the convenience store... Because I thought doing that will make this chapter finished on time but still, it's late...

So... Sorry if this chapter is somewhat weird... The characters' personality shift, it's not supposed to be like this! *flails*

The voice turned to be a psycho who (that?) lives in Len's head.

Go on, and I don't own... Ah, Vocaloid.

* * *

'_...what do I have to say regarding... This?_'

'...what?'

'_I mean, Len... What the hell were you doing?_'

'Sitting on the roof, under the rain?'

'_Right, that. And you are soaked wet!_'

'I know that!'

'_I mean, a puddle already formed on the floor!_'

'I don't know how to dry these wings...'

The voice sighed heavily, '_Oh God, use your magic,_'

'...what magic?'

'_You don't remember?_' it yelled in frustration.

'I don't.' Len sighed in defeat. 'I just have to dry the floor later.'

'_Not that!_' it yelled again, '_Why did you do that?_'

Len put an empty look, 'I can do anything I want, don't control me.'

He then received a laugh, '_Fine, fine! Of course I won't!_'

"...it's not funny..." he muttered.

'_It's just fun to do it!_'

'Fun! I'd rather be alone without your presence here...'

The voice took a time to think, '_Really? I thought you don't... Didn't like to be alone..._'

'Alone and having someone else talking in your head is different...'

'_You got your point there!_' it said in a weird, cheerful voice.

Len ignored the voice and changed his sitting position on the couch, just in front of the TV. His right hand began to reach the nearest fruit on the table—an orange. He began to peel the fruit and plopped one into his mouth.

"...hey," he called.

'_You're talking to me?_' the voice asked.

"Yes," he replied.

'_You don't have to speak out loud, people will think you're talking to no one in particular..._'

"But no one is here," Len smiled, "...you k now what had happened last night... After I woke up?"

The voice answered after 'thinking', '_I know._'

"Somehow I..." he paused to eat another slice of orange, "...don't remember anything."

'_Hn, after you woke up, then..._' the voice sounded like it was wondering, '_Rin-chan made porridge for you, and it turned good... From the look of your face..._'

"Ah..." Len said as an 'understand'.

'_...then you sleep?_' it said unsurely.

'...what's with the questioning voice?' Len asked, this time not saying it out.

'_It's just... Uh well, you slept again._' it said a gain.

"But why can't I remember?" Len asked. "Did something happen?"

The voice didn't say anything, of course it couldn't answer his question, when it was something that would…

'_I have no idea, I don't even think you will forget..._' it lied, '_But... Sorry again..._'

"..." a silence formed between 'the two of them'. And t hat was when the front door cracked open, making Len lifted his head up and looked at the door.

"Oh God, it's raining heavily..." a girl's voice said.

'_Ah, Rin-chan's here._'

* * *

Chapter 32

* * *

"...welcome home." Len said slowly after the drenched Rin stepped into the living ro om.

At first Rin didn't notice his presence, but when she heard his voice, she immediately asked, "Len! You okay?"

"Ah, I'm fine..." he said in a lazy tone.

Then Rin got a good look of her 'brother'.

Hair not tied up.

Wings spread out.

Water dripping.

...the small puddle on the floor.

"Wh-what happened! Your hair's wet and so your... Your wings!" she asked in a panic while pointing to the said 'wings'. "Why don't you dry it? You can catch cold!"

Len looked back at her and tilted his head to a side, "I won't, but...look at yourself. You should... Get changed."

"I-I won't get a cold!" she roared back, making him shifted in fear. She folded her arms stubbornly after that.

After a minute passed, Rin sighed and walked away from the living room, "I'll take a warm bath, this uniform is getting heavy with the water..."

"Eh..."

* * *

Rin thought that thinking while taking a bath had been her newest ha bit since she did the same thing in the morning.

'So, Hatsune... Miku-san said that Len is the ruler of the... Kingdom? So he's like... The most respected person there? So their job of bringing him is... Something ...'

She stopped herself from whatever she was doing.

'I can't be selfish like this. It's like I can keep him forever with me...'

She let out a heavy sigh, then continued her previous activity.

'Then, I haven't asked Len about this...'

Then a flash of thought passed, 'How if he doesn't want to go?'

After she 'approved' her thought, she made the supposed-to-be-relaxing-and-warm-bath to be fast and finished in less than ten minutes. She wore her clothes and skipped the hair-drying step. Then she jumped out from the bathroom—literally—and ran to the living room.

"Len!" she yelled while running.

Len looked up from his orange—Rin's orange which he ate without her permission—and watched Rin running wide-eyed-ly, "Wh-what's wrong?"

"I want to ask someth—" she slipped on the small puddle and fell flat on her face.

Len saw (and heard the horrible thumping voice) it and quickly apologizing, knowing it was his fault for not drying the floor earlier, "A-ah, are you okay? Sorry I didn't clean the puddle!"

Rin got up and waved her hand while rubbing her hurting face with the other hand, "N-no, I'm fine..."

She could only see a flash of white before it disappeared completely from her sight. She stood up slowly and began to eat Len's (_her_) unfinished o range blankly.

'Now the puddle ruined everything!' she yelled in her head. An annoying, mocking voice of herself began to rang, 'You know it's Len's fault, but don't even care about that because he's your—'

'What the he ll am I thinking!' she hit her head lightly several times, trying to make herself sane again as if she was insane.

Then Len finally showed himself from the kitchen door with a small towel in his hand. Rin just watched him as he floated to the living room, until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Len, use your legs to walk." she said shortly and he obeyed her immediately. "Why the wings are... Out, anyway?" she asked.

Len shrugged as he looked back to the said thing, "It felt uncomfortable if I 'fold' it when it's wet. .."

Deciding that Len had done something unusual, Rin asked, "What made it wet anyway? You were walking under the rain with those wings spread!" she asked while imagining the thing she had said.

'Maybe if someone really did see him with the wings, they thought it was a kind of accessories... Costume, like that...'

"N... Not really." he re plied while wiping the puddle with the towel—although a new 'water path' h ad created when he walked to the kitchen. "And what were you doing until t his late?"

Rin froze hearing his question. She just couldn't say, "I dressed up as you and acted like you today—even in your workplace!"

"Uh, I had some errands to do..." she half-lied.

Her only 'errand' was just meeting Miku and the rest were...

She continued, "And when I was walking home, it rained heavily and I didn't bring an umbrella. Just not expecting rain this soon... Were you out too when it rained?"

"... ah, I was." he answered after a quick pause.

Rin raised her eyebrow when she saw Len looking at her. "What?" she asked.

"Don't you feel cold?" he asked back.

She gave him a surprised look, "Uh, no? Why do you ask something like that?"

He looked away in embarrassment, somehow, "N-no, in case you're feeling cold, I will..."

Rin got curious by his unfinished statement, "Will... What?"

He waved his hand frantically, "No, no... It's nothing... Never mind..."

Rin pouted, "Why don't you tell me? Now you're making me curious!"

"But really, it's nothing..." his voice trailed off, "I'll put this towel back to the kitchen ..."

Rin jerked his shirt before he could even go, "No, don't change the subject!"

"But I have to—"

"Now, sit here!" she pulled him (by the shirt) and made him plopped beside her on the couch. When he was seated she hugged him as if he was a pillow or some sort of it, "I want to hug you, since you're warm~"

When she looked at his face, he was flushing bright red. She giggled seeing his cute embarrassed face, "Say it, you want to hug me, right?"

Len didn't say anything because he was too embarrassed to admit that he was indeed, want to hug her. "...or you want to be hugged?" and she hugged him tighter.

Len tried to get a way from her tight—getting tighter—hug. Or at least loosen it. "Eh, it's just... Someone used to hug me... No, we were hugging each other to warm ourselves."

Rin's smile disappeared as she heard that, but she quickly replaced it with a fake smile, "Eeeh... Is that so?"

Len sensed the change of atmosphere—or it was the voice inside his head who told him, 'Heh, seems like she got it wrong. It was her… As your sister who used to hug you, am I right? Siblings tend to do that a lot, eh?'

'...don't say anything else.' he replied.

"I... I'm glad you remembered something from your past." she continued, "But are you happy with the current 'you'? Your life now?" she asked, just like what she wanted but she really didn't expect the question to turn out like that.

"I am..." he said, "I don't feel like going anywhere else... But..."

Rin let out an audible yelp, getting excited. She snuggled closer to Len.

"What?" he asked to respond her unreasoned snuggling.

"This is a 'you're welcome'! I'm happy with you being here as well!"

Len felt a fluffy feeling inside his heart, "But are you sure? I mean..."

Rin's laughter died down, " But... The people in your place will search for you, I think..."

At t he mention of 'the people in his place', Len looked at Rin with a surprised look, "The people from my place...?"

Rin fidgeted with the fallen feathers from his wings, "I heard it from... Miku-san, that you're t he most important person in your place..."

Len gave her a surprised look in disbelief, "...really?"

Rin looked back at him, and stayed with the silence for some moments, "…so it's something you don't remember…"

"...yes." he replied slowly. "But why do you know that? Did you ask Hatsune-san or..."

"Eh, of course!" she replied nervously-she couldn't let Len knew that she asked that just because...

...she didn't want him to go away from her.

"I-I'm just curious of... Hey, I said it that I'll help you to remember, right?" she continued.

"But you don't have to do it." he replied sharply.

"Eh, why is that?" she asked, faking the curiosity in her voice.

Len didn't answer her, instead he stared blankly at the TV that wasn't turned on.

Rin looked at his blank face and sighed . She pulled herself from him and moved to the corner of the couch. Even after made a distance from him, she still looked at him from head to toe... His damp hair, his wings...

"Rin." he said silently, making it sounded a bit creepy for Rin.

"Yes?" she asked him back.

"...do you... Know me?" he asked.

Rin tilted her head, "What do you mean? Of course I know you... If I don't, I would have kicked you out from this house." she joked with no playful tone from her voice.

Silence started to take place between the two of them again. Rin shifted a bit from her position to find a more comfortable one, and Len's wings flapped occasion ally, making soft sounds that filled the silence.

"Len... I wonder how much you had remembered about your past...?"

Len thought inside h is head, gathering information from before, "...my childhood, before I di—before I got in an accident. There's a gap between that time until the time I got here... I still..."

Rin widened her eyes upon hearing the new information, "You got in an accident? What accident?"

"Ah…" he said, looking away from her, "A… Crash."

"A-a crash?" she asked loudly.

"…right."

Rin glanced around, "You never told me that before," then she patted her laps, "Is that the cause of your… Amnesia?"

Len tilted his head, somehow making Rin grabbed the nearest pillow and squeezed it, nearly ripping it into two, "Huh?"

"The accident," she put the pillow back while letting out a huge sigh, "You got in an accident, and when you realize it, you don't remember anything, like that?"

"And I supposed to forget things before the accident?" he asked back.

"Ye—right, you said you don't remember the events after the accident… It doesn't make sense," she said, face-palming. 'And it doesn't really explain why the hell he ended up in this house…'

She thought about any possibilities. After getting an unclear conclusion, she suddenly clapped her hands with a happy face, but then she thought it's not possible as well.

She ended up face-palming again.

"I have no idea… But there's still a gap, huh..." Rin said in a disappointed voice. "Then, Gumi..."

Len widened hi s eyes at the mention of Gumi's name.

"...you don't?" she asked again before he could answer her previous question. "Gumi seems to know a lot t hings about you..."

He decided to kept silence until Rin asked him a question that needs to be answered. He didn't want to tell Rin about the truth there, that night. Hiding the truth is better than lying.

"Then, how about Miku-san? She knows a lot of things about you as well… While Akita-san acts careless, she seemed to know you well..." Rin continued.

He did know who Gumi was, but not the two of girls with abnormally long hair...

"...I don't." he answered, knowing it was the truth.

Maybe they were someone from the gape of his memories?

"...maybe they're someone from the gape of your memory…" Rin said, almost exactly the same as his thought. "Since they're mentioning kingdoms and rulers and blablah..." she said, then giggled.

"Sounds like a fictional story…" Len commented.

Rin grinned at him, "Sure it does, but maybe it's real,"

Len smiled at her, then his smile disappeared once he began to think about something important. 'Another something' about his past.

The past after he died, when the pain was all gone.

But he felt something was wrong with his thought.

'...maybe after I died, there's a kingdom for the dead…? That's...'

He lifted his head up a bit, directing his sight to the ceiling, 'But maybe a place like that really exists...'

Rin had been watching him (again), and when he looked up to practically no where, she got confused, "...what's wrong?"

"...nothing's wrong. Everything is fine." he replied.

Rin made a sighing voice, "Aaah, you should say it if something happens—you can't just keep things to yourself, right?" she said with a smile on her face.

"...you're right..." he muttered though he felt something was wrong with himself by hearing that.

Rin let out another sigh, this time was lighter, "Hey Len... Maybe I shouldn't be asking this, but..." she hesitated to continue her words, so she looked at Len, who then gave her an 'okay nod', "What made you cried last night?"

Rin waited for an answer, but not getting one. Then she sighed for the millionth time, thinking that she had asked a wrong question.

Len looked at her (who had looked away), then asked, "I cried last night?"

Rin looked back at him like he had said something really horrible, "Eh? What? You… Don't say you don't…"

Instead of answering Rin 's question first, Len made a conversation with the voice inside his head, 'Did I really cry last night?'

The voice made a 'thinking sound' before replying, '_You heard her._'

'...why didn't you tell me about that?' he asked, feeling a bit angry.

'_To keep everything safe._' it replied shortly.

'...agh.' he just made an annoyed tone, didn't know had to say what.

He heard Rin called him, "…Len, are you okay? You're worrying me..."

"A-ah, I'm okay..." he said quickly without thinking. Rin who had predicted his answer pouted after that.

"It doesn't have to be your physical feeling... It's... Do you feel... Lonely or something else?" she asked again.

Her unusual question made Len wonder. What made her ask something like that?

"Rin, I'm... Fine, really..." he said, now reassuring her that he was okay, both physically and mentally. But by saying that, he felt there was something strange...

'My past... And what I feel...'

Then, voices—his own voice—played in his head.

Hurt.

Hurt.

Hurt.

Hurt.

"...hurt..." he whispered to himself. But Rin heard that as an indistinguishable mumble and she quickly moved closer to him to hear better.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Meanwhile, the voice started to talk again in Len's head.

'_No, no, no, no, no... You're not supposed to remember about what happened last night, especially that part of your past!_' it said, sounded panicked.

Len heard it as a nothing as he focused on something else.

He tried to remember the events in the previous night. He remembered it involved a hurting feeling and...

The voice doing something he couldn't remember.

'S... Stop playing around with me!' he said.

'_Wha—hey, I' m not playing around, this is a serious matter!_' it retorted, but then the voice laughed.

And laughed.

Then laughed.

Len really wanted to question this voice's reason of laughing, but thinking it was just plain strange, he pushed it off.

The voice's laughter started to die down, '_Th-then..._' it started, the laughing was still could be heard, '_...I just have to erase it again and again!_'

As the voice finished its talk, Len felt light-headed, 'What... Are you doing now?'

'_Hm, you feel it? Well, this is a side-effect if I do this when you're awake, that 's why I put you into a sleep earlier..._'

'What are you talking about?'

'_Hm?_' it asked back, '_If you ask that, it's about erasing._'

* * *

Rin looked at her 'brother' with concern. He didn't repeat his previous word, and there, freezing.

His wings suddenly disappeared, and he fell limply to her side at the same time.

"A-ah," she yelped as she felt something weighted on her shoulder. After that she positioned his head to her lap, then she looked down at him, "Hey, Len..."

He had his eyes closed. This made Rin wondered, 'He fell asleep? Or he passed out?'

But it didn't take long for him to open his eyes, then he got up from her lap and gave her a questioning look.

"..." he stared at Rin without saying anything.

"...are you okay?" she asked, feeling unsure with her question. It's just... She felt that she had asked him the same question again and again .

"..." he didn't reply.

"Sheesh, thank you for making me worried..." she mumbled , and it didn't seem like he heard that.

She felt her eyes began to droop. Feeling the need for sleep, she glanced at the round-shaped clock, finding it was time to sleep already. No wonder she felt sleepy...

"Len, let's sleep... I don't find you looking well, so get a rest..." she said while yawning, "I'm afraid you'll get sick so..."

The person she had been talking to stared at a blank space on the wall when she talked to him.

"...okay, I'll go ahead. Make sure you get your sleep..." she said, feeling drowsier than before.

She closed the door to her room without waiting for an answer. She just wanted to sleep as quick as possible.

She changed her clothes to her pajamas, and carelessly left the used clothes on the floor. She crawled to the bed and covered herself with the fluffy blanket.

While waiting for sleep to come, a thought about Len came to her mind, 'He looked lost there... I wonder what really happened to him...' she shrugged, thinking that everything will be fine. But she felt something else.

'I don't know why, this blanket give me more fluffy feeling than usual...'

* * *

There was no way for Len to sleep when he had slept for almost a day long. So he walked up to the attic and play the piano—a thing he hadn't done in that day.

One hand wrote some notes on the paper, the other pressing the piano keys. Songwriting.

Then he glanced at the piles of paper surrounding him. He was amazed by the fact that he had written that many songs. He didn't even need to think, everything just flowed into the paper. Everything he thought of, turned into a sheets of music.

But at that time, he couldn't help but thinking hard just to write lyrics. And the tune was an even bigger challenge.

Because he felt empty.

Like... Something was taken from him. It wasn't the voice—it's true that it hadn't say anything since he woke up, strangely, on Rin's laps—but it wasn't what he lost.

His memories. Not the ones from his past, but the new ones. The thing he could remember was…

Jumping from one event to another without transition between each other. Like, he remembered talking to Rin, later he found himself waking up.

Did someone manipulate his memories?

The piano made a strange and loud noise when he slammed his hands on the keys.

For the first time, he felt scared... Though maybe it wasn't the first time...

'...I don't need to concern about my past... The events after I died anymore, it's something I'm not supposed to remember, right?' he thought to himself. 'But what's happening right now...?'

He had been burying his head in his arms without realizing, so when he realized, he lifted his head up and stared blankly at the piano.

'...'voice'?' he called, and he called again when he got no reply, '...answer me.'

'_What? I thought you want to be left alone,_' it answered in annoyance.

'...I am, I want to confirm that...' he 'said', '...just... Leave me alone, for a while.' he paused.

Saying 'leave me alone' was somehow strange.

'_Ha, you know I can't 'leave' you since I live in you, you mean I shouldn't talk to you for a while?_'

'...yes. Sorry.'

'_Ah, actually you can say that earlier… But if that what you want... See you!_' it said.

Len sighed once the voice was practically gone.

'Maybe I have to talk to Hatsune-san and Akita-san... And...'

'...tell Gumi about who I really am...'


	33. Chapter 33: Jealousy

~~Project Diva Extend was released 3 days ago, the Rolling Girl PV is just too awesome...

Because I just don't like PM-ing people...

KaguyaMiiChan-san: I will continue until... Until it's finished, don't worry...

Emanon-san: I just realize that everyone live in peaceful world without hate in this story when I read your review...

CheshireGrell1297-san: Whoa, two in the morning? I agree with you! I wish everyone here doesn't care about grammatical errors, the point is as long as you understand, then there's no problem! But if the grammar is _really_ off, don't you feel annoyed reading the story? (←saying as if my grammar is good)

Not the voice again! Why everyone is against the voice? Give him some love! *shot* He doesn't appear in this chapter, though... And he does have a name, I'm not telling what until the last chapter...

Disclaimer: Aku no Musume belongs to mothy/悪ノP... What?

* * *

"O-oh no!" she heard someone screamed in an annoyingly high-pitched voice. She couldn't help but to look up at the source of voice.

"Miku, what are you screaming at…?" she asked, hoping it would shut the other girl up. Peace was the only thing she needed (after her phone, of course) and there, someone ruined it…

"T-the time limit…!" Miku replied, horror filled her voice, "It's getting—"

"Seriously?" now it was her turn to yell, "Why don't we just snatch Len away and…"

"I've told you again and again, show some respect to Kagamine-sama!" Miku yelled back.

"Well, he's not even here to hear me! And I don't think he knows the reason of being called like that…" she said, crossing her arms.

Miku looked at her with wide eyes, which quickly replaced by a calmer one, "Ah, right…"

Then the door swung open, revealing a pissed off Meiko, "This is almost the middle of the night and the two of you are yelling?" she hissed.

"O-oh, we didn't realize it, sorry…" Miku quickly apologized, while Neru just nodded. Miku was just not in mood to argue with Meiko, so she let it off.

A sober Meiko and a normal Miku will get along well without any problem.

A sober Meiko will lose with an insane Miku when they get into an argument.

Even though like that, a drunken Meiko will easily chop insane Miku's head off.

The main point is, even Miku—the sanest person in that house—couldn't beat Meiko.

"Hm, just watch it…" Meiko said before getting out from the room and closed the door again.

As soon as Meiko was gone from their sight, Miku spoke, "Do you think it's okay to bring back Kagamine-sama… who doesn't remember anything?"

"Meh, if bringing him means go back, let's do it." Neru replied carelessly.

"We can't just do that… I think he needs some explanations first…" Miku said.

Then an idea popped up in her head, "Neru, let's do a meet up with him…"

"Go on." Neru said without looking at her.

Miku processed Neru's words first before giving a reply, "No, I mean you go with me as well…"

Neru gave her a disbelieving look, "And get back,"

"And get back…" Miku repeated, but adding something, "Maybe."

"Not going."

Sweat-drop fell from Miku's head, "Or disappear?"

"I'm going even though I don't want to…" Neru sighed.

* * *

Chapter 33

* * *

"Kneel before me!" the princess said, and everyone obeyed immediately. They know what she would do to them if they didn't do her orders. Maybe she would punish them to death—but let's face it, no one wanted to disobey her. She was the princess, the ruler of Lucifenia after all…

In every scene, Rin hoped that someone in that fictional kingdom would disobey her and with that, Rin could see what the princess will do. But she had watched the movie before, and everyone turned against the princess at the end. The princess didn't die, but the story didn't end happily.

'Ah, it's just a fiction, I don't have to think about it…' Rin thought as she fixed her not-so-comfortable lying position on the couch. She had been lying there for 3 straight hours, caused by a little cold she caught—thanks to the rain—and all she did was napping and watching some random movie on the television. The channel just happen to air the 'Aku no Musume' movie again, and she had no other choice but to watch the movie. It was better than anything else on the other channels… Or she would die because of her boredom.

She glanced at the window—the curtain was half-opened, half-closed. Len's doing, he must be rushed to do everything, including opening the curtains… _Only_ because he overslept—when he didn't, anyway? Because she was the one who usually wake up first, and without her waking up, her sleepyhead 'brother' just wouldn't wake.

And that day was even worse—he got up late, then he took a _little_ care of her first before going to the school. Rin wondered, did he arrive in time? Although she knew that he probably _flew_ to the school if he ran out of time, it was just…

On the other hand, she felt happy that he actually cared about her—despite her rant about being stupid… She remembered it clearly that she was the one who told him to get some rest so he wouldn't get sick, and on the next day she was the one who got sick.

She felt extremely stupid because of that.

And he left after she reassured him that she was okay and she could take care of herself. It was just a little cold, nothing for the Kagamine Rin. He offered to stay at home to look after her, but she didn't want him to miss the school again.

'What is this? I'm getting kinder to the others?' she thought, leaving a feeling as if she wasn't kind to the others before…

She took off the blanket she was using before and got up. She looked around in a sitting position, searching for something edible since she just remembered that she was starving. Len didn't leave any food for her—because he was rushing, perhaps? (And making another impression to herself. As if she was an animal and Len is her owner… Who leaves food for her…) Making a meal wasn't her choice because she still wanted to live.

It took some moment for her to look for food, and at the end she didn't get anything, "Guess there's really nothing to eat… I'm out of oranges as well…" she said to herself, making a plan to go to the nearest convenience store _just_ to buy some oranges. She had felt better after all, and she thought having a little walk could make her feel even better.

'I better get going…' she got up from the couch, turning off the television, folded the blanket into an abstract-shaped cloth, and walked to her room to take a jacket or some sort of it. But when she was talking her jacket, her phone rang from the table near the bed. She picked the phone up and found a new message.

_"__How __are __you __doing? __I __heard __you__'__re __still __sick__… __-Teto__"_

The '_still_ sick' part made her wanted to laugh. Teto actually fell into her trap _for __real_.

_"__All __better __now, __no __need __to __worry!__ –__Rin__"_

She sent Teto a reply, not getting away from the room. In fact, she ended sitting on the bed because someone sent her a message.

_"__Whoa, __really? __Glad __to __hear __that! __Maybe __I __can __come __over __to __your __house, __I __miss __you~__-Teto__"_

_"__Sure! __After __school?__ –__Rin__"_

_"Yeah, after school. Anyway, Rin-chan, things are really happening in the school now… -Teto"_

_"What things? –Rin"_

_"Well… Things. I'll tell you later. Ah, I want to inform you that Miki-chan and I had made a great combination between cherries and strawberries! –Teto"_

Rin typed a reply again, _"__How __does __it __taste? __Good?__ –__Rin__"_

'…maybe the oranges can wait just for now… I'll get them this evening…' Rin thought before pressing the send button.

* * *

The afternoon hours of school seem to be hated by students. Apparently not only the students, the teacher as well. They looked tired after teaching the high-school students stressfully. Gumi could see it perfectly with her eyes from the back of the classroom that almost no one in the classroom actually paid any attention to the teacher, and the teacher sighed periodically, like, once in 5 minutes.

And Gumi just had to admit it, she wanted to pay attention to the teacher but she couldn't. Something prevented her to.

_"__Gumi-chan! __I __promote __this__—__a __mixture __between __cherries __and __strawberries __created __by __Furukawa __Miki __and __Kasane __Teto! __Testers __are __here __for __you, __Gumi-chan!__ –__Teto__"_

That.

_"__Teto-chan, __I __will, __certainl. __But __why __are __we __texting __in __the __class __anyway?__ –__Gumi__"_

_"__I__'__ve __observed __the __class, __and __clearly, _no one _pays __attention __to __the __teacher. __The __teacher __may __look __us __occasionally__… __But __she __doesn__'__t __notice __us, __so __why __not?__-Teto__"_

Gumi had readied herself to reply the message, but a new one entered her mailbox first.

_"__And _you're _replying __my __messages, __Gumi-chan.__ –__Teto__"_

Gumi made her head had a contact with the desk softly and lifted it up instantly, only to be greeted by the previous scene—a teacher explaining about something, the students having fun by theirselves by making doodles—drawing on their books that had nothing to do with the lesson. She could guess that the teacher probably thought everyone was taking a note. And some were doing God-knows-what on their phone, just like Gumi and Teto. Sneaking-ly, of course.

She let out a silent sigh and looked to her right, where Len was sleeping peacefully on his desk, head resting on the table.

Just… _How_?

"Kagamine-kun," she called, "Don't sleep in the class…"

And of course, she was ignored. There she started to think about something else that could probably wake him up. While thinking, she got a new message from Teto.

"_Then about the samples, after school? Sooner is better -Teto_"

Texting Teto gave her an idea. With that, she sent Len a message.

"_Hey__ –__Gumi_"

There was a chance that he put his phone in his pocket, so with sending him a message, the phone would… Vibrate.

Her prediction was right, he did put his phone in his pocket. The phone seemed to be vibrating when it received a new message—that woke him up. He rubbed his eyes sleepily before reaching his pocket to take the phone. He flipped it open, blinked when he read the message. Then he turned his head to Gumi.

"…wha… Hello?" her eyes met his sleepy ones. And it wasn't that long until he closed his phone, putting it back into his pocket and went back to sleep.

That ended Gumi's plan, "…what?" she whispered to herself.

_"Are you trying to wake Kagamine-kun __up?__ –__Teto_"

"_I __am. __And __I __failed. __Maybe __he __really __needs __to __sleep__ –__Gumi_"

Strangely, she waited for a reply. She knew that Teto was typing something in her phone, but finally it was the time for the teacher to check the students. She walked between rows of tables and chairs, having her eyes on the students and checked on their doing. The ones who were doodling happily quickly flipped their books to reveal notes when they felt the teacher's eyes were on them. With that way she wouldn't notice that they were doodling instead of taking notes.

Both Teto and Gumi flipped their phone close and put it in their skirt-pocket. The other students did the same thing, because the teacher didn't even sense something suspicious.

But then, she stopped next to Len's desk. Gumi immediately knew what was going to happen next.

The teacher had opened her mouth to speak, and words did come out from her mouth, "Kagamine-sa—"

"Uh, wait sensei, don't wake him up!" Gumi said without realizing her doing. Because of her sudden call, everyone turned their head to her. She then smiled sheepishly before speaking again, "…let him sleep, he's tired?" the statement came out to question instead of a real statement.

The teacher sighed _again_ and walked away, leaving the sleeping boy there.

Gumi sighed after the teacher.

"_Hey, __I __texted __Rin-chan __and __she __lets __us __to __go __to __her __house __after __school. __Are __you __going __with __us?__ –__Teto_"

She stared at her phone for a long time without replying Teto.

'Rin…'

* * *

Rin walked on the street, her body was wrapped in a jacket and her bow wasn't put on—although her usual hairclips were still on place. She guessed the summer really was going to end because the weather seemed to be colder… Or it was because of her cold?

Ignoring the cold feeling, she continued to walk to the store, just to fetch some lovely oranges.

She silently viewed the usual scenery—the walk seemed to be really lonely. But she was sure it was just her, since Teto and Miki visited her house earlier. You know how loud the two of them were…

Teto promoted the said mixture of strawberry and cherries just like she said in her message. And Rin admitted it, that combination was actually good.

At least, much better than her cooking.

But it didn't really matter for her, she was already happy with the fact that two of her friends wanted to spend their time with her… To cheer her, to be there for her…

When a certain _someone_ wasn't there. Rin was hoping that she would come as well, but all she met were a twin-drilled girl, and dark pink-haired girl with an ahoge on her head, not a certain green haired girl who had been her friend since… Since they were just little children.

Nakajima Gumi.

'And think about that, she didn't even text me…' Rin thought.

Somehow there was a bad thought about Gumi in Rin's head, made by her evil-mind.

'It's just my feeling, Gumi would never betray me like that…'

She thought her best friend wouldn't do anything she didn't like—she was her best friend after all...

But how if everything was just a lie? People lie anywhere at anytime, right?

Rin started to look around to find something else to be thought off. She just didn't want to think negatively to someone else—maybe she really was a kind person? She didn't find anything to be examined other than the houses just beside the main street—which wasn't that big anyway, fit for one to two cars in width—and the houses were too ordinary, she got no fun looking at it for a long time. She was going to pick up her phone and do something—sending an email to her friend or play some random games, when she spotted a certain place she would probably enjoy.

A little park near the place she was standing. She knew that park existed, but she never paid any attention to that park lately. In fact, the last time she visited the park was when she was in elementary school… She thought spending time by sitting on the bench would be fun, but she really needed to go—her oranges were waiting and calling for her. Then she decided to do it later after buying the orange.

The park was just meters away from her, she was walking straight forward (as if she would walk backwards), and she could hear someone's voice—a familiar voice—from that not too close, not too far distance.

Gumi.

"—of course I believe in you but… I can't believe this truth…"

Who was she talking to?

Then someone who Gumi was talking to—someone just had to be there—didn't say anything. At least for a moment before _he_ spoke, "If I'm in your position, I wouldn't believe in you either…"

_That_ voice. Rin could recognize that voice anywhere.

She stopped walking and then leaned on the wall, listening to their some-sort-of conversation. She had a smile on her face as she stared blankly at the tree that just happened to be there at that moment.

'So I was right…' she thought, her lips were still forming a forced smile, 'Of course Gumi is having some good time with _her__dear_ Len, what was I thinking before?'

She waited for them to continue the conversation but unluckily, the conversation seemed to be over already. Rin let out a sigh with slight disappointment in her voice. She was about to leave, but she heard Gumi started talking again.

"But Len,"

Rin widened her eyes. Just since when Gumi started to call Len with his first name?

"Even like that, I still—"

In that very short moment, Rin could feel her heartbeat went faster. What would Gumi say next? At the same time, a thought entered her mind.

'Then what? Gumi and Len's relationship is not my concern…'

But in fact, she cared. Gumi is her best friend and Len…

Just who is Len to her?

'…I don't understand…' she thought. 'But if he really is nothing to me, then why do I—'

"—love you…"

She didn't care about their relationship anymore at the time she heard that from Gumi. All that matter was…

Rin had never felt betrayed like that in her life. Gumi said she didn't love him, but why—

Part of her want to believe that it wasn't Gumi—maybe someone else who had similar voice to her… Or it really was Gumi, but talking to someone else, not Len. Though Gumi had mentioned it before that she _had_ a friend named Len… What's with the past tense anyway? They weren't friends anymore? None of her concern.

But another part of her wanted to run away from the truth she just heard.

At the end, she turned on her heels and walked—_ran_—away from the scene, and head back home, ignoring her rumbling stomach and her orange-need. She just need some time to think.

But before she even reached her house, she could feel tears welling in her eyes already.

'There no reason to cry, and I…'

* * *

~~Slight Gumi-Len again, I just have to make Rin-chan jealous... Wait, was it really Gumi and Len there?

Gotta play now, but not before I say thank you for everyone! So, thank you!


	34. Chapter 34: Misunderstanding

~~I haven't updated this story for the whole month (and exactly, a month, 30 days), because of lack-of-idea (a block?), laziness, and lastly, exams. Sorry.

I have 3 more finished chapters, though. Typed down with my lovely mobile phone... Maybe I will update a little bit faster... Maybe. But I want the 38th chapter to be published in December 27th... Why?

Mirrored Sounds-san: Here's the late next chapter and yes, you're right. Len was.

CheshireGrell1297-san: Actually I'm a late-night reader as well...

Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: Aku no Musume belongs to mothy/悪ノP. Why this song/story gets dragged along anyway?

* * *

"What do you want to… talk about here?" She asked, pushing the swing she was sitting at with her legs and made it move back at forth in a slow, short motion. She looked down to her shoes and found nothing but sand. She kicked it lightly, causing a small amount of sand to fly to the air and blown by the wind.

Her companion, who was sitting on the other swing next to her, looked at her. Then he looked away and said, "I don't know how to put this, and you won't believe in me anyway."

"Why do you think like that?" She asked again, "I… Maybe I would believe in you. Just tell me what first, Kagamine-kun. I don't have any clue about what you're going to talk about."

He clutched the swing's chains. The swing he was sitting at stayed still on its current position from the first time he sat on it, "I didn't realize it before, sorry."

She looked back at him, confused, "What…?"

"I called you by your first name," he said, "It was accidental, I really didn't mean it, sorry…"

Gumi shook her head, "It's okay, I don't really mind being called like that."

"You can call me Len, then."

Gumi looked to her right, facing her companion, "Maybe I'll pass."

She couldn't do it.

There was nothing wrong with it, but she couldn't do it.

Not to someone who looked, acted and had the same name with her long-dead friend. Calling his name would be too awkward to her.

It just feels like speaking to someone dead, _face-to-face_.

Len sighed after hearing Gumi's rejection, "Are you thinking about him?"

Gumi had to remember it, he reads people's mind—which is rather creepy.

"I am," she said truthfully, "Just imagine you see someone died straight in front of you—clearly seeing that the person was truly died, then some years later you faced that person, and call that person my the person's name."

"…that's why I said, you won't believe me after all."

Gumi pushed the swing again, "Oh, sorry. You can continue. What are you going to tell?"

"It's…" Len glanced around uncomfortably, "You always think that you are speaking to yourself, but a part of you believe that someone else is hearing."

Gumi immediately knew what he was talking about. Of course, nothing else but her strange doing of going to _his_ grave, telling things about her life and people around her, but… How did he know?

She lowered her head and her eyes met the sand under her feet, she didn't know what to say about that. The best choice was to stay silent until he continues speaking. But somehow, she felt that she needed to say something, at least a word had to escape from her mouth.

"Actually, I want him to hear me." She blurted out. Not expecting that from her mouth, her heart skipped a beat. "I want him to hear my problems and about the people around me, especially Rin. She… She just changed after his death, that's why I—" She sighed to calm herself down a bit, "I want him to help me change Rin back. The old Rin I used to see and play with."

"…so the main concern is Rin," He commented.

Still looking down, she continued, "I feel a bit troubled with it at the beginning, but then, there's Teto-chan who is on Rin's side if it's about her 'trouble seeking', but still being her good friend from the way she cheered Rin. Then there are you." She ignored the feeling she was being stared and continued, "I can see it, she's changing because of you."

"Really?" She could hear a surprised question from him.

"Yeah." She answered shortly.

They faced a silent moment where the only thing that could be heard was just the birds that happened to be chirping.

Birds chirping.

Voices of people could be heard from afar, faintly chattering.

Breaking the semi-silence, Len spoke, "He can hear you… And still hearing."

After looking down for a long time, she finally looked up.

"What?"

He widened his eyes for an unknown reason and repeated, "He can hear you."

Again, she pushed the swing with her foot, "How could you be really sure about that?"

"Because I can hear you." He said shortly, easily while looking away.

She didn't continue pushing the swing, making it went slower and slower until it stopped. She also felt that her heart stopped beating for a moment there. She took about one or two minute to register his words before finally understood about what he meant by his words. Her lips formed a smile as she started to speak.

"I can't believe in you, _Len_. Though I think I have to."

* * *

Chapter 34

* * *

And that was all, Gumi didn't say or do anything other than that. Her voice stayed the same—the soft usual voice. And her face, didn't look shocked, or confused at all. Didn't she suppose to be… Surprised?

It was just a smile Len could not understand.

Finally gave up on thinking, not asking, but he stated, "You don't believe that."

A small laugh escaped from her mouth, "No, in fact I was expecting that…"

How could a _normal __person_ expect something completely illogical like that?

"Expecting it?"

"Right, the thing you said earlier, about you don't understand why _humans_ want to die so much—they should be grateful for being alive, it's like you were implying that you're not a human, and not even alive… Then it's possible that you're _dead_. And the idea of 'the two of you' being really alike is just somehow… Strange and I know no one else who happens to be like… _You_." She said, "I just thought that he is you, you are him, like that." She paused and looked at him. Confusion was shown on his face. She decided to go straight to the point, "Ah, of course I believe in you but… I can't believe this truth that you're actually here."

"And that's what _I_ was expecting." He said, "Because if I'm in your position, I wouldn't believe in you either…"

"Like that? I start to doubt myself for believing you now…" She said, joking. "Meeting and speaking to a dead person is obviously a joke."

"I'm not… Technically a 'dead person', I'm still here." He said.

Gumi blinked twice, "Then how?"

Len shrugged, "Have no idea. It's just… I have no idea."

"No need to repeat that, though." She said, "You're not a kind of reincarnation of him or something similar?"

"Reincarnation?"

"Reincarnation… You don't know what it is?"

He shook his head, "No."

'Okay, now I know, Rin had to deal with amnesic person like this _a __lot_.' She thought.

"Never mind, I don't think you are, anyway." She said.

"But then… I really didn't remember anything back then. When you told me about you childhood, I don't know why, those memories came back." He said, "And… I don't know about what had happened after I died, and before I found myself in Rin's house…"

"Rin's house?" Everything started to get confusing for Gumi.

"Rin's house," He repeated, "Without remembering _anything_, like what happened before, how I could get there, I didn't even remember my own name… I realized that I was in someone's house. Completely clueless, feeling like you never lived before but strangely, your body knows how to live."

Gumi just nodded in response.

"But the thing you mentioned previously, when did I say that?" Len asked.

"Huh? After the bell rang in the class before we got home this afternoon…" Gumi answered instantly, "…wait, you were still half-asleep at that moment, then."

"Maybe I did." He said, and finally moved his feet to push the swing and made it swing slowly. "Sleeping for an hour, then I have to get up and face the day again."

Gumi laughed, just to give a response.

"But I really think you should…" He said.

"Should what?" She asked, considering that he hadn't finished his sentence.

"Should enjoy your life, and make a good use of it." He smiled. "Having your soul pulled away from your body forcefully never feels good after all…" He said, saying it just like a joke everyone could laugh at. "Or being hit by a car _before_ having your soul pulled away…"

"Death is painful, like that?" She asked him.

He looked down, "You can say… That's why you should never say I want to die…"

That last sentence rang in his head.

'I want to die.' He repeated the sentence in his head, feeling uncomfortably familiar with that phrase.

'Why do I feel like I ever had…?'

The calm evening was once again, filled with her airy voice, "But Len, It doesn't really matter. As long as you're here… Dead or alive I don't really care. I have my best friend here." Then she gripped the metal chain of the swing tighter with both of her hands and turning her body—not just the head—to him. "Years had passed and changed, people born and die, you died, Rin forgets, you came back,"

Gumi was changing, though, Len thought. That Gumi he was talking to was more mature—of course? Like, she sounded like she was going to say something serious and important, and her face remained calm.

Mature, indeed.

"In that weird circumstances, even like that, I still love you—"

Her words were interrupted by Len's sudden action of turning his head and darted his eyes to the empty, small road which connects the park and the house in that neighborhood. A bad feeling made him do that.

Then he let Gumi continue without saying anything else.

Gumi sighed, "I still love you as my friend, because I can't love you in _that_ way. But we can be friends forever, right?"

He looked at her for a seemingly forever 5 seconds, and smiled.

A _real_ smile.

"…of course."

* * *

Rin swore that her mind was doing a continuous back flip and front roll as she walked from her room to the kitchen, from the kitchen to her room, again and again.

To sum it, let's just say that her mind was messed up.

Not just because she just happened to partly hear Gumi 'confessing' her love to Len, she ended up having a slight breakdown, but she ended up missing her oranges as well.

A feeling, a case where you can't get two things you love at the same time.

'Actually I don't really need to care about that.' She thought. 'Though I'm curious about what Len's reaction would be…?'

She sighed, while enjoying the time being with a starvation, she didn't try to cook something, considering that she still wanted to live, so she had to deal with the hungry feeling until Len got back.

"Gah, just get back already, Len…" She muttered to herself as she began to walk away from the living room and went to her room to do practically nothing.

She really didn't do anything important until Len came back for real.

"I'm home…"

"Len! I'm hungry!" She shouted from her room, but quickly revealed herself by getting out from the room. She gave him a 'meaningful smile' and he just nodded and walked away to his room, but came out in less than a minute.

"Len! Let's go role-playing again!" She shouted again, but now from the comfortable couch in the peaceful living room.

"What do you mean?" He (half) shouted back at her from the kitchen, probably preparing the food already.

"Just obey me, Allen!"

"…of course, my princess…" He said, quickly playing along with her. He couldn't help but thinking while cooking, 'Rin seems to be… _Strange_. But at least I know she had gotten all better… But it has nothing to do with her craziness. Maybe because of…'

Then he remembered what Gumi had said to him.

'Love… As a friend…?'

Rin's loud yell snapped him out from his thought, "Earth to Allen! The boiling water is flooding already!"

"E-eh, what?"

* * *

Rin and Len ate together in an awkward silence. Rin would glance at Len every five minutes, and Len did the same thing.

"Um, something bothering you?" Rin asked, making a conversation.

While actually, something bothered her really much.

"Nothing, just…" He said, "…uh, never mind…"

"Okay then…" She ended the conversation while resuming eating while having things running in her head.

'Gumi loves Len.'

'Gumi loves Len.'

'Gumi loves Len and I don't know what to do and I don't understand what I am feeling, gah! Jealous? Happy? Angry? Relieved? Nothing?'

She suddenly regretted overhearing their conversation earlier.

'Isn't love is something like… You get happy when the person you love gets happy? Happy with his or her happiness? Or it's a feeling full of jealousy, and filled with lust?'

'…now I will just pretend that I really love Len, then what will I feel if I looked at him—'

She carelessly glanced again at Len, and stared at his face for a seemingly long time.

'What do I feel—'

Unluckily, he noticed her gaze and asked, "Rin… What's wrong?"

Rin could feel her face grew hot when he said that, "N-no!" then she looked away embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry about that, I mean… Princess…" He said, getting back to the role playing, but he added at the end, "Though I don't think a princess would eat with her servant…"

In fact, Rin had forgotten that they were playing that, and his apology made her remember, "Actually, if I was really the princess, and you were the servant, I would eat together with you… No, I wouldn't let myself being ordered by my own brother…"

She raised her eyebrow upon realization, 'What did I say?'

"Rin, you feel all better already, right?" He asked.

She nodded, "Of course I am, better enough to have a little walk."

Len stared at her with a far-away look, thinking of something, she guessed.

'Now let me try to say this… I love Len, I love Len, I love Len, I lov—it's getting embarrassing…' She thought and then covered her face with her hand afterwards.

"Rin," Len called, his voice sounded scarily serious, "I know that you—"

'Oh my oranges, does he find out that I l... Love him?' Was what in her head, while at the same time she cursed the truth that her mind could be read easily by him.

She never heard the continuation of his unfinished sentence, though. All interrupted by her shriek. And when she finished shrieking and managed to get a look of his face, it was a clear confusion. Ignoring it, she said, "Do-don't say anything else!"

Not following her order like his supposed role as a servant, he spoke, "Why?"

"Because no!" She answered.

She just repeated the whole thing about 'pretend that you love him' and there he was, going to talk about it... Maybe?

'But a suggestion will always be a suggestion. If I think I love him, then I will love him. But talk about embarrassing... And he just brought that up...'

And right, when she thought she loves him, her whole view of him turned (not that much, though). When she usually could stare at his face for a whole hour...

She couldn't.

"Okay then, I won't say anything else about it." He said. Hearing this, she felt the urge of sighing in relief, but decided to hold it up and show nothing to him. "But I want to ask something..." He said.

What it probably was? She had expected that he would ask something about the common things human usually understands.

But really not expecting it would have something to do with 'that'.

"What is love?"

The way he asked it was innocent, like usual. Just like a little child asking thing he doesn't understand to his mother. And it sounded like a simple question.

But not for her. She had to have her head to process the words before giving an answer.

And another thing in her head, 'He doesn't know what love is...? That means he doesn't get what Gumi meant by that...' Somehow that made her relieved (wonder why), 'But how can he doesn't know what love is?'

Before answering, she looked at him for a split second. Really, it was only curiosity that could be seen from his facial expression...

...and sadness?

So, instead of answering, she asked, "Len, are you okay?"

He looked started by her question, but replied quickly, "I-I'm fine, just thinking about something, that's all."

She nodded after hearing his answer, "Okay. So, love is affection..." And she trailed off.

What did she supposed to say? She just realized that she was also clueless about this.

"Well..." She waved her hands, motioning a 'never mind', "It's something you have to experience by yourself. Not everyone has the same definition of love," she finished, really not expecting that came out from her mouth.

He looked like was about to open his mouth and say something, but he didn't. He closed it and then stood up, "I... I'm going upstairs..." He said quickly and left.

Rin was left there with a big question mark.

* * *

6 years living, before death finally took him away.

9 years after his death, he found himself once again walking to the exact same earth from before he died.

Not that he really cared. He was just confused.

15 years, and he had no idea what love is. Wasn't that the main part of living? You can't live without love, right?

He shook his head, knowing that he hadn't figured out the meaning of love. Thinking of having some rest, he rested his head on the piano keys, making some notes to make a strange sounding sound. And soon after that, he closed his eyes shut and let his consciousness slip away.

But before he fell asleep, something flashed in his mind.

Love is something he had to experience... Figure out by himself... Someone had said that before to him.

But who?

* * *

"Morning, Teto-chan!"

"Oh, morning Rin-chan!" Teto looked to her friend while still munching her lovely bread, "Finally you came to the school! God, I missed you!" She said.

"Though you've met me yesterday?" Rin asked.

"School, house, different place." She said.

Rin then laughed. After that, the door opened, revealing Miki and Gumi, who immediately went to Teto's desk.

"Whoa, Rin-chan finally shows her face in the school! Morning, and for you too, Teto-chan!" Miki greeted cheerfully.

Gumi peeked from her back before moving aside and reveals herself fully, "Morning, Teto-chan, Rin..." She greeted calmly.

Rin giggled, "Ehehe, morning Miki-chan!" And she waved her hand to the dark-pink haired girl.

But not to Gumi. She just stared at her with a frozen smile on her lips. And after a minute, she finally spoke to her, "Oh, morning Gumi!"

After the greetings, the girls started to chat like usual. But there was a slight difference there.

Rin ignored Gumi, just like she wasn't there at all. Of course, Gumi noticed this but she didn't say anything. She only thought, 'Why? What happened?'

* * *

It's official, Rin decided to ignore Gumi. Until the lunch time.

At least Gumi thought so, because they were again, having lunch together and Rin didn't talk to her at all.

'What... Did I do something wrong again?' She thought. 'Maybe she gets upset because I didn't visit her yesterday... What a bad friend I am...'

"Gumi-chan, want some carrots?" Teto said, offering Gumi her carrots which she didn't really want to eat.

Gumi nodded and took the carrot, "Thank you..."

Rin, on the other hand, was feeling... Something indescribable. The first one being cautious (of what?), the second one is betrayal, and the last one was...

Jealousy?

'Why would I feel jealous, anyway?' She thought, erasing her worries away. But she just couldn't help it—she had to make a temporary distance from Gumi.

For almost no reason.

She silently ate her oranges, while giving responses if Teto or Miki talked to her, but not Gumi. She saw it as well that Gumi didn't even try to talk to her. Probably she had known that she would be ignored no matter what?

Letting out a little sigh, Rin leaned back to something she didn't even bother to look—even if it was a trash bin, she didn't care—and munching her orange and closed her eyes for a short moment to relax.

But in that short moment, Gumi managed to slip away from her view and shen Rin opened her eyes, she wasn't there anymore.

She asked her friends, "Hey, where's Gumi?"

* * *

And right after she finished her carrot, someone pulled her away. Gumi didn't try to pull herself off from that person, but she needed to see who had pulled away like that, so she turned her head to the 'puller' and there he was, Len.

"...mind to explain what you're doing?" She asked, at the same time he released his tight grip on her.

"I think you need to know what's in Rin's mind," he said casually, not having his eyes on her, but something or someone else.

"What is it?" Gumi asked.

"You know, I've been watching her from this morning and yes, she ignored you." He 'explained'.

Gumi sighed, "Yes, I know that, but I don't think it involves you—she probably mad because I didn't visit her yesterday, Teto-chan and Miki-chan did, and I supposed to—"

"...like that?" He asked.

Gumi got confused when he said that. Wasn't he supposed to say something to her, giving and information, not asking her back? "I think so."

"But what I'm going to say isn't the Rin ignores you part, she misunderstands the whole thing about us." He said.

Gumi was about to retort back, but she asked a "What?" Instead.

He blinked twice and tilted his head before speaking, "You don't realize it, right?"

Gumi thought. She had felt that the whole thing about their friendship-and-nothing-more had made a misunderstanding, at least Rin thought like that. "I know."

"And yesterday she overheard our conversation—"

"Wait, what?" She cut him off by yelling like crazy but quickly regained her composure and change back to her usual calm self, "That's why you suddenly perked there when I was going to say that..."

"And apparently she missed the 'as a friend' part." He continued with a guilt-less voice. "So she got is as... You got the point." He said.

Gumi blinked, then she muttered, "Oh my God..." Under her breath. She grabbed the front part of her hair which was longer than the rest and pulled it down. "I really made a mistake, did I?"

"But from my point of view, it's no one's fault. Misunderstanding isn't caused because of that."

Gumi just nodded. She completely had no idea what to do, how to solve her problem.

"But perhaps you can explain it to her?" Len said again.

"Sure I can," she said, "and I will." And with that she left the scene and head back to her previous place.

Still standing at the same spot, Len thought, 'Glad she managed to do that... I have no idea how to explain the whole 'love' thing..."

He looked up to the sky.

"Love is..."


	35. Chapter 35: Smile

~~The previous chapter is a great fail and this one... A pointless chapter, not better, sorry. And no chapter title, yes. I don't know have to put what... (But, ah, yes, there's a chapter title there now... Ehehehe~)

* * *

"I've set up a meeting that will be held next Saturday, hopefully." Miku said while closing the flap of her phone.

Neru snorted at her, "Don't say it so seriously, it's just a small, useless meeting... And we really don't talk anything really important."

Miku gave her a look of disagreement, "Don't say it like that. It is useful, you said you want to get back, actually what do you want?"

The flap of her yellow-colored phone finally closed shut, and she faced the teal-haired girl with a ridiculous long twin-tails (like hers wasn't ridiculous enough...) eye to eye. "Look, I never agreed to do this from the first time and you're the one who supposed to be in charge to find the troublesome ruler, not me." Miku had opened her mouth to talk but Neru managed to continue before Miku could talk, "I know you will say 'it's your own fault', 'you're the one who found him missing' and the bla-bla-blah like usual. And something that has to do with getting home. So what? It's just you who are being too loyal and can't you even enjoy this moment a bit? As you could see I was busy texting."

"I don't want to disappear, you know! Don't you have something you want to do? At least be glad that the afterlife does actually exist, if not we wouldn't be here at all! This is a chance for us to do things we didn't manage to do when we're still alive!" Miku retorted, anger started to boil up in her, Neru was getting on her nerves.

Neru didn't say anything. Didn't know because of what—she was thinking, or just simply ignored her because she was being (just a little) rude—Miku didn't care. In that silent moment, Miku managed to calm herself down, "And do you want to know why I became loyal to the palace?" The palace of the world of afterlife, where the ruler and the palace worker—the ones who help the ruler to rule the country—live. Where she and Miku lived. Neru just shrugged, so Miku took that as a 'say whatever you want' and she started talking again.

"I was also responsible for Kagamine-sama's death, even though I died at the end as well."

Neru couldn't lie to herself, she just knew this at that moment and it was shocking her. 'What did she just say?'

"But no, it isn't the main problem," Miku said, "The thing that bugs me is he lost his memory, practically he never lives without the memory of him being living." She sighed, "I wonder how..."

Miku had become Neru's object of stare.

"Going off topic, don't you? How about the meeting?"

Miku smiled, knowing that Neru finally agreed to go with her, "Saturday at 10:00 at North Side Café."

'Isn't she a bit... Moody?'

* * *

Chapter 35

* * *

"It wasn't what it seemed to be, not at all, in fact."

Rin looked up to Gumi, who was standing next to her desk. After she caught her face, Rin looked away again, finding the window interesting, "What are you talking about?" She asked without looking.

"Here, I just want to explain things between Len and I." Gumi said bluntly—she wasn't usually like that, so when she said that, Rin turned her head back to her.

But finding out that staring Gumi wasn't interesting at all, if fact it felt rather awkward, so Rin turned her attention to the floor instead, ready to hear the rest of thing, whatever Gumi was going to say about her and Len...

"So... What is it?"

Gumi felt glad that Rin didn't ignore her—she was expecting Rin to ignore her, but Rin didn't. But explaining that wasn't an easy task for her.

What? Was she going to say that Len was her childhood friend that happened to be dead at that moment? Or to tell her that Len was really her brother? None of them make sense.

Gumi took a seat beside her which happened to be empty, "Before that I want to say sorry first."

"...for what?" Rin asked, still not looking at her.

"For making a misunderstanding." She said, "You probably thought there's something between Len and—"

"Of course I do!" Rin snapped suddenly, cutting Gumi's words, "You... You get closer to him lately and... And there, you called him by his first name! And yesterday, you, instead of going with your friends, you went to the park with him..." Then she slammed her hand to the table, "T-then you said..."

'She really did hear our conversation yesterday...' Gumi thought. 'And Len noticed it.'

"...you love him..." Rin trailed off.

'...and she really does misunderstand it.'

"I've said, it's a misunderstanding." Gumi said, staying calm.

"What misunderstanding? You had said to me that you didn't, but you lied to me, right? I heard your conversation yesterday with my own ears, what else you want to say?" Rin half-yelled to her friend.

Gumi tried to find a way to calm the blonde down, but found nothing. She sighed before continuing, "That's just because you didn't hear the whole thing."

Rin didn't say anything.

"I said I love him as a friend and nothing else."

Rin didn't know what to do when she heard that. Say nothing or to retort back?

But the main point was:

Yes, she had misunderstood the whole thing and it made her really embarrassed with her previous action of nearly-yelling and hitting the table, just because she thought something was between Gumi and Len.

But wasn't that make it even more obvious that she had feeling towards Len?

"E-eeh...?" She stuttered. How stupid, she thought, "S-sorry then... I-it's was really my fault for taking it incorrectly..." She stuttered again and stood up from her desk and bowed to the green haired girl.

"It's fine," Gumi laughed softly, "I'm okay with that, I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable with that..." She said.

Rin nodded hurriedly while getting back to her seat.

"But now I know your _real _feelings towards him..." Gumi said with a playful smile on her face.

Rin blushed crimson red, "N-no, it's not what you think..."

"No," Gumi shook her head, closing her eyes while still having that meaningful smile, "No use denying it Rin. You **did **feel jealous when you saw us together and when I said I 'love' him. Isn't it too obvious? Because I need no more proof..."

"No, that's... Uhh..." Rin didn't know what to react. "He's... He's my brother for orange's sake! No way I would love him..." She trailed off when she saw Gumi gave another meaningful look. "...you've found it out, have you...?"

Gumi nodded in victory, "Yep, of course I have. Then there's no problem loving him."

Rin blushed again, "But I..."

And then the door slid open, breaking the moment, "Okay class, get back to your seat and let's start the lesson!" The teacher shouted, students hurriedly got back to their seats while the teacher started writing something on the board right away.

Gumi got back to her seat while still looking at Rin from there, 'You just don't know it... He was your real brother, and technically still is. I think it's okay—it's not a problem if you love him because I am, too, crossing the line...'

* * *

Boredom ate Rin alive, so she decided to go somewhere after school instead of going straight home like usual (and yes, to buy some oranges she didn't manage to do in the previous day, thanks to the awkward misunderstanding). She decided that going to Rainbow Ice would be good, considering she hadn't gone there for a while and the ice was pretty delicious for her taste. It wasn't that far from the school, either. 10 minutes of walk and there it was.

What made her hesitate was the fact that Len worked there. She hadn't spoken to him since she knew the truth behind the misunderstanding and...

But before she realized it, her feet had already made their way to the café. She thought visiting the café would be fine.

At least it was what she thought.

When she arrived at that certain café which located at the end of a small alley, a flying plate greeted her. She dodged the plate by reflex and stared at it as if it was an UFO. The plate ended up broken when it clashed with the hard asphalt.

"Welcome to Rainbow Ice! How may I help you?" A waitress suddenly greeted her from nowhere, causing her to jump a bit.

"I would like to have a... Seat." Rin said, unsure.

The waitress smiled, "This way."

She walked into the café and went to her designated seat with the waitress guiding her through broken pieces of glasses...

Getting more curious, Rin finally opened her mouth to ask, "May I ask something... Actually what's happening here?"

"It's nothing," the waitress said, "Not really nothing, though. It's just the boss is having an argument with... Someone."

"...okay," Rin said in response, though she really didn't get what the waitress meant, until she realized something.

'It's... It must be Sakine Meiko-san who the ice cream-head boss is having argument with, right?'

"Yes, we're here," the waitress said, letting Rin to sit on the comfortable mini sofa. "Someone else will give you the menu and take your order. Have a nice time!" And the waitress left, leaving Rin alone there without anything accompanying her, including the menu she needed to look.

She had no choice but to enjoy the moment listening to the loud screams from the employees' door. Actually how violent was it?

And after what seemed to be 5 minutes, the screams just disappeared into nothing.

'...that loud noise is sure, annoying and scary-sounding, but a sudden silence like this really does give me chills... The world's nearing its end or what?'

Her stomach grumbled, "Now where's the menu..." She muttered to herself.

Right after she said that, someone slammed the menu to the table, making her jump from the sudden noise.

"S-sorry for the long wait... He... Here's the menu..." The waiter said while trying to breathe properly. He had his head hung down and his hands were on the table. She could hear his heavy breathing and from his looks, it seemed like something or someone had chased him down before because his blonde hair was loose from his what-supposed-to-be-a-ponytail and his messy bangs was just... Messy.

...blonde hair in a ponytail?

"Len... What... Happened?" She asked slowly to her 'brother'.

He looked up to her with a tired face, "Something happened there... The usual beating... And we had to stop them..." He said, still panting. "And what made it worse was... Meiko-san chased me down for no reason... I was supposed to work in the kitchen, but Hatsune-san takes my position... And so I could get away from Meiko-san's wrath... And then, someone told me that there's a customer waiting, so I ran here..." Then he took a seat in front of her and put his head on the table for a short moment.

"Anyway... Have you made up with her?"

Rin looked up from the menu list, "You mean Gumi? Yeah, I have..."

He laughed a bit, "Ah, glad to hear it. Though I think I need to say sorry as well for not saying it earlier..."

Rin, though still stunned with his laugh—Len and laughing, a rare combination—said, "You know it all along?"

"I know you were there yesterday."

Rin was going to ask, 'How?' But it was Len after all, he was not a normal person. "But there. Gumi said sorry before I do, do you think I'm a coward?"

Rin shook her head, "Never will..."

"Is that so?" He asked, tilting his head cutely with a cute smile on his face... At least Rin thought like that.

And after a long time, Rin got killed inside again. She hadn't seen his smile for a long time, and one smile was enough to kill her.

'That's it, he has a cute and lovely smile... Huh, I really said 'lovely'...' She thought while smiling.

"Hey, you should smile more," she said.

He looked at her straight in her eyes, "Something in my mind said no."

Rin raised her eyebrow, "Eh, why not?"

He looked away, "A bad feeling."

Rin could only sweatdrop and say nothing, 'Ah. It's me, right? Of course, who else would crept into his room in the middle of night and watch him sleep?' She thought. And forgetting that Len could read her mind, which he actually did. On purpose.

"Rin," He said, "What do you feel about me?"

Rin was taken aback with his question instantly, "E... Eeeehh what? She asked, blushing deep red. Oh, she really wished that he didn't notice it...

It was Len's turn to blush, "I-I mean, d-do you feel happy with me or not... Or maybe my existence ruined your life…" He waved his hands frantically in front of Rin's face.

Rin gave him a sweet smile, "Of course I feel happy. My life is empty without you, anyway..." Then she looked down, trying to hide her blush.

"Um..." Len said after about 5 minutes of silence, "So, what do you want to order?"

Rin directed her gaze back from the floor to Len, "Oh right, I forgot!" She began to flip the menu pages one by one, trying to find something that might pleases her tongue and stomach.

"Ah, this one," she said, pointing at a certain picture of ice cream with... Unusual shape and color, but topped with slices of orange.

Len, who had stood up and stood beside the table, said, "Anything else?"

Rin shook her head, "Nope."

Then he smiled to her, "Your order will be served soon, if you need to order something else just raise your hand and we'll come to take your order." Then he left the table.

After he was gone from her sight, Rin dropped her head to the table and started muttering, "Stupid Rin, you do realize that you're indeed, stupid. Of course you can act a bit normal like usual, not blushing like crazy. And stupid you, he can read your mind and you weren't supposed to think about that, it leads to something that sounds wrong. Oh God, Rin... Why you really messed up with everything this day?"


	36. Chapter 36: Ruler

Usually the attic has many unusual things you don't even expect to be there.

And what made Len interested to that 'special place' was; everything from before was stored here. It ranged from Rin's little bicycle, her first bow, her toy roadroller, and even his drawings, back then before he died. Actually he was pretty much surprised that those abstract pictures were still being kept, really not expecting that...

And photo albums.

He smiled to himself as he saw a picture of Rin. Her bow was still extremely over-sized at that time, the same went to the goggles which Gumi wore to practically everywhere. At the picture he was looking at, the three of them was facing the camera while making a peace sign with their little hands, smiles were on their faces.

Those innocent smiles only children have.

While looking at the pictures, he tried to remember the events through his fuzzy memory. He looked over albums and albums, there were so many of them. There was their parents' wedding album, their baby album, that album their parents managed to make when they were in kindergarten... That last one mentioned had a lot of Gumi's picture, either together with Rin, or with him, or the three of them together... How he missed the old times...

And finally he reached the part where pictures of humans starts to become more less, and sceneries were taken instead of it. But still, in the middle of those pictures of scenery, a photo of Rin and Gumi together could be found. Sometimes Rin and her parents...

His eyes landed on a portrait of the tree of them. Mother, father, and daughter.

With him being missing from the supposed to be a picture of a happy family.

All of them were smiling brightly, but Rin's smile was the one that really shone.

A real smile surrounded by a forced smile filled with guilt, and a fake smile with regret.

Like something precious had been taken away from them.

He stared at the picture for a long time, and felt a strong feeling of loneliness in his heart. He only sighed with a smile.

And speak of deaths, he remembered his death and their parents' death changed Rin's life, from what he heard from Gumi. Rin wouldn't be a troublesome trouble seeker if everything was normal from beginning...

But from what Gumi had said, he had changed her back from her 'trouble seeker personality'.

'I don't think I had done something... Special to her. What I have done is... No, I think she's the one who had done many things to me...'

* * *

Chapter 36

* * *

"Alarm clock... Be a good kid and shut the hell up, okay?" Rin mumbled in her half-asleep state. She cursed the fact that she forgot to set the alarm clock so it won't ring in Saturdays... And Sundays. She relied much to the alarm clock, though. She couldn't wake up on time without it, and her 'brother' was just... Unreliable if it comes to waking up at the morning. She even thought he could sleep for the whole day if nothing bothers him...

Rin knew that the alarm clock wouldn't turn off by itself, so she gave up and got up from her bed and went to the table where her phone was.

She loved on how phone is so useful. Calendars and alarms, internet and camera, everything in one.

After she turned off the damned alarm, she went back to the bed and covered herself again with the warm ans fluffy blanket.

She thought it was just 5 minutes from the time she turned the alarm off—at least it felt like 5 minutes for her, when suddenly she heard loud thumps and footsteps from outside.

Thinking that she should wake up, she tossed the blanket away then headed to the door and cracked it open, "What the hell is happening he—"

And what greeted her was the front door being slammed close after she let her head out through the door.

"Len?"

* * *

'_Your habit of waking up late doesn't change at all, Len..._' the voice said, he seemed to be shaking his head (if that even possible) at that moment.

'Why are you even speaking to me?' Len asked while running down the autumn-themed road... To the town center where the North Side Café supposed to be. 'I thought it was clear enough that I asked you to keep silent...'

The voice laughed, '_Sorry. It's just... Unbearable..._'

Len sighed while keep on running, then finding the road was full of people, and mumbled something incoherent. But he continued running through the mass of people while avoiding himself from hitting the innocent walkers.

'_It will take less time if you just fly through this crowd rather than stopping in every 5 steps you take._' The voice suggested.

It was true that he had to stop running for a while periodically because the road was simply full, he had no other choice but to wait until... At least a little route opened, it was okay to hit one or two people... But, flying?

'Do you want me to get stared by the walkers and bystanders, then they would think that I am some kind of unknown creature by flying with the wings in this crowdy place?'

'_...perhaps it is true..._' The voice wondered, '_Ah wait, there it is, North Side Café..._'

'Where?'

'_There! Though the road is blocked by the people... There, clean them up by sending them flying into the air with your magic._'

'...no way...'

* * *

Miku fidget, having her eyes wandering outside through the glass panel that separates the cafe and the outside, watching people's movement seriously, searching for a figure that might stand out in the crowd, though actually she wasn't really looking for anyone in particular.

Not even Len who she supposed to meet at 10 am in the cafe she was in, and 15 minutes had passed from 10 am. But she understood why. In fact she was expecting him to be late.

So who she was really looking for was a question she couldn't even answer by herself. Or she wasn't looking for anyone from the beginning?

She glanced to her left where Neru was, of course with her phone as well. She was texting someone Miku didn't bother to know carelessly using her beloved device. Miku knew that Neru was in her own world when she's with the phone, waiting for a whole day won't be a problem if she still has her phone.

Perhaps the phone is a good thing that can be used to communicate to each other in this world?

Caused of her boredom, Miku picked up her phone and started to play around with it. She had no idea what to do with the phone, she only used it to hear music sometimes (and of course, with her black headphones which she 'stole' from the shop), so she decided to try something unusual.

The menu titled 'games' caught her eyes, and she really did end up playing the phone-games.

That was it, until Len came running to their table. She looked up from her phone while closing its flap, Neru was strangely doing the same thing, minus the closing part.

Both of the girls stared at the boy without saying anything.

"Sorry I'm late..." He mumbled while catching his breathe.

Neru kept on looking at him, and finally spoke, "He doesn't change, after all..."

Miku didn't want to admit it, but she had to agree with her yellow-haired companion.

"It's kind of rude saying that... But I couldn't help but agreeing your statement, Neru..."

* * *

'What? Do they mean that I got late often?' Len thought.

The voice nodded (how?), '_It seems to be like that..._'

Not giving any reply to the voice, Len positioned himself on the unoccupied seat on that table then he slumped to the table.

"Is everything okay, Kagamine-sama?" Miku asked with a slight concern in her voice.

"Nah, he's just tired from running here from his house..." Neru commented, her phone had become her main interest again. Then from the corner of his eyes, he could see Miku jabbed her with her elbow.

"She's right. Let me catch my breath first..." He said, not looking to the girls at all.

"There, listen what he says!" Neru said in an offending voice.

Miku took Neru's words just like flowing air, that didn't really give any effect to her. She continued straight to apology to Len, "I'm sorry Kagamine-sama, if that is what you really want to do, you may do it. We're the ones who follow your orders." She said, slightly bowing by lowering her head.

Len lifted his head up and looked at her, "No, it's really my fault for being late... I know I shouldn't do this." He fixed his sitting position and sat upright properly, even his eyes were fixed to her teal ones.

Miku shuddered when she felt his gaze on her. No one had ever commented anything about his eyes—at least, she never heard anyone talking about his eyes. She thought maybe it was just her, but his gaze always seemed to be...

Cold.

It was like, sure his eyelids were drooping just like usual. For her. It didn't really matter. It was the eyes, not the eyelids.

Miku didn't have anything to argue with him, but she had to convince him that it wasn't his fault. "But I really have to follow your orders and..." Suddenly feeling uneasy. She glanced at Neru, who was unluckily, busy with her phone.

While cursing in her head, Miku continued, "...and really, it wasn't your fault for being late, I was kind of... Expecting it."

Len hardened his gaze on her, successfully making her shift uncomfortably, 'Was she giving an indirect insult?'

Not that what Len was concerning. It was just the way Miku addressed him... Annoyed him. Not only the -sama part, she acted like he was someone whose order has to be obeyed.

Miku managed to clear her throat in the middle of that awkwardness, "Erm, so, we're here to talk about... How we are here."

Then she started to explain, "As you can see, we don't really belong to this world... This is the world for the living beings. And we're not."

Len glanced away uncomfortably, "I... Know that. Everyone I see is alive, Rin is alive as well... While I have died some years ago."

Miku wasn't expecting him to know that he was dead. Something or someone reminded him, perhaps?

"That's right. The two of us had died as well." She continued, "And I suppose Rin-san is your sister when you still alive?"

"Right."

Miku stared at him for a long time without saying anything.

'I thought he doesn't remember his past before he died?'

"So," she said again, "You had remembered everything now?" A part of her was glad, but she could feel something was wrong and not supposed to be like that...

"Not really." He said, "It still doesn't explain why I am here when I supposed to be 'dead'."

'Right... Now he mentions it...' She thought, 'It's not explaining at all why he ended up here, the earth?'

"And..." He began, "Do I know any of you?"

Miku could heard a loud sigh from Neru, "Miku, just explain him everything from the beginning, you're making it confusing... God, he doesn't remember us, just tell him who we are..." Annoyed, that was what Neru felt at that moment.

'But doesn't that mean that he remembers event before he died, but not after he died?' Miku thought seriously, 'It was supposed to be the other way around... From what I know. Wait, he got his memories back but giving his other memory to get it?'

"Okay, I understand." Miku said, "We are the ones in charge to find you and take you back to... To where we really belong. Where the dead peope live."

"The dead people live?" He asked. How could dead people... Live?

"The Afterworld," Miku nodded, "Place where afterlife is there. A life after death."

Len got more confused. It didn't make sense... But the fact he was there didn't make sense, either. So he just nodded.

"There's no hate in that place, because everyone could live peacefully with no war, because everyone will die... Or we prefer calling it 'disappear' when we reach a certain age limit, so no matter how much we stab someone, for example, that person won't die if that person hasn't reach the age limit..."

"Though you can use a better, less sadistic example, Miku," Neru commented with her eyes on the phone, but her ears were listening.

Miku slowly turned her head to Neru before continuing, "Unlike humans, we have the ability to use magic, so technically everything can be fulfilled easily."

"And a pair of wings?" Len asked.

Miku sweat-dropped, "We do have wings, maybe because we're 'dead' after all..." She laughed sheepishly, "But the main thing that creates peace is, everything is organized well, so everyone has the same right and can live peacefully with each other. It's the ruler's job to rule... Or organize the world."

"A single person ruling the whole world?"

"Not really a single person, and not really the whole world..." Miku said, "I don't know how, but the world is divided by sections, which I really have no idea where are the others, but it just illogical for the humans from the earth to be fit in just one kindgom-sized world. And the ruler has helpers in many things, most of them became assistant-like, though. The ruler lives in a palace-like building, along with those people who helps him that I mentioned before."

Miku used too many 'like' word. Len thought that the said world is practically the same as earth, but the difference was only, it's the Afterworld, a 'world' after world.

So how did he got there, anyway?

"Speaking of the ruler, the two of us are just a little part of the palace-worker. Means we also help the ruler to do his job." She said, then gesturing at Neru, "She helped with the paperworks, and I am the one who usually take care of the ruler. And we're not the only one who assigned with that tasks, there are many more."

"And..." She started again, "Actually I am the one who supposed to look for the ruler, because I am his caretaker."

'...they ask a girl to look for the ruler... In this dangerous earth? They can't be serious...' Len thought.

"And what about Akita-san?" Len asked.

Miku explained innocently, "She got into an argument with someone, so she was forced to go here with me."

Neru grumbled under her breath, "No need to tell him about that."

"So Kagamine-sama, I would like to tell you, that you are the ruler of the Afterworld, and we would like to bring you back there..." Miku trailed off.

A ruler? The one who rules the 'world'? And he was the ruler?

"...what?" He asked slowly.

"You can get to that point from the beginning, you love having everything complicated, don't you?" Neru said.

"Not really..." Miku replied, not wanting to have an argument, "We have to explain it to him."

'_An important role there, huh..._' The voice suddenly commented.

'Can you please, stop talking?'

"You mean I have to get back to the Afterworld as the ruler?" Len asked.

"Unluckily, yes. I know you're having a great time here, meeting with your sister, but—" her words were interrupted by Len, who spoke sternly.

"No, it's not possible."

* * *

"He left."

Rin spoke to herself when she couldn't find Len anywhere in the house. Perhaps it was him who slammed the front door earlier.

'Say, he probably has something to do," she thought, "...when I'm here doing practically nothing." She laughed to herself while making her way to the bathroom to take a bath to make herself fresh.

Taking a bath wasn't the thing she really care, it only took fifteen minutes and she already revealing herself outside the bathroom door.

She had no homework at that moment (if she wasn't mistaken), so she decided to do something... Practicing her cooking skills? Perhaps it wasn't a good idea since... Well, maybe she would burn down the whole house—no, the whole neighborhood because an accident happened in the kitchen. Though she thought she was exaggerating in her imagination.

Suddenly an idea popped up in her mind.

Sneaking to Len's room and see what's inside sure is a great idea... So she walked to his room with an evil smile and opened the door.

She was expecting the room to be at least, a bit neat. A good thing that she got her expectation to be true but books and paper were scattered everywhere.

'Not only in the attic, he puts paper everywhere here as well?' She thought, '...maybe it's always been here for a while, I haven't go into this room lately, anyway...'

She bent down to see what was behind the paper. To her surprise, the paper had nothing in it.

She shrugged as she walked out—there was nothing interesting in his room after all. But she suddenly had an urge to go to the attic. To find another clue about what Len was probably thinking using his music sheets.

So she went there. Only a small amount of light could get into the room, making a creepy feeling. She turned on the lamp and scanned the room with her eyes.

Strange, the amount of paper reduced. She wondered where the paper went.

'Did he throw the paper away? How eco-unfriendly!' She thought. She just loves the ecology...

Throwing her thought away, her eyes wandered around the room again. Then her eyes caught something. At the corner of the room, books were scattered. But it didn't really look like book, it shaped just like a photo album. She walked closer to the corner where the 'books' were, and examined it closer.

'It's a photo album.' She thought as she picked one and brought it up to the level of her eyes. Actually it was obvious already that those books were actually photo albums, since photos were scattered there. She just didn't notice it earlier.

She sat down on the floor and began to smile to herself as she opened the album she was holding. She flipped the pages filled with photos, and she saw a smaller her (well, herself when she was younger), often in the picture with someone else. A green haired girl and a blonde boy.

'The green haired girl, Gumi.' She said in her head, holding a laughter. Gumi just looked... Really different back then, more childish, that's it.

'The blonde boy, Len.' She thought as she questioned herself after that, 'Len? This kid looks like him, but...'

She lingered the photo by using her fingers while she was thinking for a moment.

She suddenly looked up, her eyes went wide.

'T-that's right! How could I forget? Len is—'

* * *

~~The voice was there! I missed him...

A cliffhanger? No? Well~ Actually I'm too lazy to update, have been playing games a lot this week. Even while typing this note, I am playing. And today is December 21st, so 27th is coming, but I haven't made the 38th chapter because of that ↑ *laughs nervously* Just hope I'll make it on time... And school hasn't ended yet even though Christmas and New Year are nearing! Imagine that!

Thank you for the reviews (Mirrored Sounds-san, the only person who reviewed the previous 2 chapters, thank you very much T^T), favorites, and alerts. And more importantly, reading and enjoying this story! I'm just... Impressed, that people are actually still reading this awkwardly over-stretched story which is getting more... Confusing—I mean, the way I write the story is getting confusing orz Well, thank you!

One question. Have the authors in this... Vocaloid section covered songs together? A chorus? Sorry for the random question, I just suddenly get curious... If there's any, I would like to hear it ・ω・

See you in 3-4 days, hopefully...


	37. Chapter 37: Remembering

~~I'm tired, though it's not that late... Closing my eyes would be good...

I'm not expecting to update today, it's Christmas... I'll update in Tuesday, but I haven't finished the 38th chapter, and I feel like drawing for the Kagamines' birthday... But the fanfic... Eh... *confused*

Wanna sleep...

* * *

"No, it's not possible."

Miku looked at him, ignoring the cold feeling that sent chills down her spine.

Before she could even react more, Len continued, "I don't remember anything about being a ruler and you're expecting me to come back? Do you think I will be able to rule the... The 'world' again?"

Miku broke the eye-to-eye connection, then looked away, "S-sorry, I just have to do the orders. No one is expecting you to lose your memory, I am really sorry about that." She said, "But it's not changing the fact that you're still the ruler—"

"You'll do just fine." Neru added suddenly, making Miku stop then looked at her with wide eyes. "It doesn't matter if you lose your memory, you're still the same Len. Nothing will change that fact."

Just for this time, Miku ignored Neru who called Len by his first name again. She wondered, how could something like that came out from the Akita Neru's mouth?

"So you do care about him after all..." Miku muttered under her breath.

"Shut up, will you?" Neru hissed.

"So..." Miku began, "If Kagamine-sama said so, then..." She didn't continue her words. Len wondered what she was going to say next...

She continued, "But we're running out of time. Being on this earth shortened our lifespan. From what I know the maximum limit is 2 months. We've been here for more than 2 months, but we're still here, not disappearing. I think if we don't act fast, we can disappear whenever possible..." She said it calmly, but her eyes didn't say so.

Despite the noisiness in the café, Miku felt that only silence that greeted her.

* * *

Chapter 37

* * *

Bringing the photo album with her, Rin ran to Gumi's house in a rush. She didn't even bother to call or send a message to Gumi first. What she had to do was talk to Gumi in person.

Rin got an extra source of energy and she fastened her already fast run when Gumi's house finally in the range of her view. She reached Gumi's house in less than 10 seconds after it. When her house was finally right in front of her, Rin take a deep breath, which turned out to be shaky because she was panting. Then she pressed the bell once, then waited...

With a smile on her face.

About a minuter after that, the door opened, revealing a green haired... Boy. Then Rin dug her head, trying to figure it out who the boy was, he examined her from head to toe.

Not finding any information from her head, Rin decided to go straight to the point, "Excuse me... I am Gumi's friend..."

"Oh..." He said. His voice sounded just like Gumi, except his was more masculine, "Come in." And he let her in. Rin stepped into her house, putting off the shoes and followed him to the living room. "Just take a seat, I will call that girl down." He said, leaving Rin alone in the living room.

She used that time to think, 'Who's that person? Gumi's someone? He looks just like Gumi... Her sibling? Cousin? Who? I've never seen him before...'

Then Gumi came to the living room. When her eyes spotted Rin, she smiled happily, "Rin! Never thought you'll come here..." And she joined Rin on the coach.

"Ah, that's because I found this and I want to show this to you...!" Rin said excitedly while showing the photo album she brought in her hands.

"What is that?" Gumi asked while reaching the album, but Rin pulled it away from her.

"Wait." Rin said, "That person who opened the door for me, who is he?"

"Him?" Gumi said, "Oh, he's my brother..."

"..."

"...what's wrong?"

"You never tell me that you have a brother!" Rin said hysterically while pointing at her friend with a fake hurt look, "We've been friends for 15 years of my life, and you're hiding a secret!"

Gumi could only sweat-drop seeing her friend's act, "I'm not hiding a secret. I just don't have the chance to mention him... I don't even think about it... Why should I remember my brother anyway... He's not that important..." She decreased her voice in the last part.

"Don't think I can't hear you, Gumi!" She heard her brother yelled at her from nowhere.

"I'm just kidding, Miya!" She yelled back.

"Then, how can I've never seen him before?" Rin asked.

"Well, he lived with my grandparents until we moved away, and now here I am, back with him." Gumi explained.

"Why were the two of you got separated?" Rin asked again.

Gumi shrugged, "I don't know. Now I have answered your questions then tell me, what is that."

"This?" Rin pointed at the album. Gumi nodded. "Obviously a photo album, Gumi."

"Rin, I'm serious."

"Okay..." Rin said and she put the album on her lap, then she opened it, "Our childish-self from 10 years ago."

Gumi looked at the picture, and she saw a petit her. "It's... Embarrassing." She shortly said.

"What makes you embarrassed?" Rin asked with a grin on her face.

"Nothing." Gumi answered, "Seeing my innocent face back then makes me embarrassed..."

But the album made Gumi thought. If Rin had the album, means she had at least _one_ picture of Len. Then...

"And not only that...!" Rin said enthusiastically, as she said that she flipped the page, revealing a picture of three of them. Herself, Rin, and Len.

Gumi widened her eyes without saying anything. 'She really has it...'

"Len was our friend, right?" Rin said, still in a cheerful tone, "I really didn't expect it because... Well, I forgot that he was our friend, how mean was I... But does he remember that?"

Still in shock, Gumi answered, "He does. Though he knew you don't remember him... So he didn't say anything to you about that, right?"

"Now you mention it..." She said. "No wonder the two of you are close... Because you had been his friend."

Gumi just nodded. With Rin remembering Len, did that mean that she knew he had... Died?

"But I wonder what happened..." Rin said, "Where did he go? I don't think I saw him in elementary school... And in junior high as well... I just met him now, in senior high... Did he moved away somewhere?" She said.

'But if he did, how could he end up in my house with a memory loss?'

Gumi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and started to explain, "Rin... Don't you remember what happened to him?"

Rin shook her head, "No."

"Then, who he really was? His connection to you?"

"My friend?"

'She still hasn't remember.' Gumi thought, 'But, want or not, I have to tell her the truth...'

She gripped the nearest pillow with her left hand.

'Okay, now or never...'

"Rin..." Gumi started by calling her name, "Do you want to know what happened to him?"

"...yeah, an accident, isn't it?" Rin said calmly.

Gumi really wasn't expecting that, "From where did you know that?"

"He told me he ever had an accident..." She said. She thought that was what made him lost his memory, but somehow, she also said no. The accident was something that supposed to happen long time ago, and she found Len recently.

'So he told her...' Gumi thought. Then she said, "And what happened after that?"

"He didn't tell me what, and I didn't bother to ask... I don't know that we know each other at that time."

"The two of you used to know each other really well, actually..." Gumi said, "He was your brother."

"What?" Rin yelled instantly.

Gumi narrowed her eyes, "That isn't the main point of our conversation, let's talk about it later."

"Oh, sorry..." Rin said. 'What again? First he was my friend, then he _was_ my brother... With past tense?'

"Okay, let's get back to the topic. And, what happened after that was..."

"He lost his memory?" Rin cut her and asked.

"N-no. I honestly had no idea how did he lose his memory."

Rin titled her head, "Then what?"

Gumi hesitated to answer Rin's question. That fast? She had to retell her the truth that fast?

'But she had discovered it before, all I have to do is remind her. But is it okay? Rin forgets what made her broken is a good thing... And I'm going to change that? But...'

'But now he's here, then it's okay to tell her?'

Despite hesitating to tell the truth, she blurted out the words from her mouth unconsciously.

"He died."

* * *

The way Len kept looking down with his bangs covered his eyes, made Miku worried already. Perhaps telling that wasn't a good idea?

"Kagamine-sa—"

He suddenly looked up and gave her a forced grin, "Would you give me a moment to think?"

"A-ah yes, of course, sorry Kagamine-sama." She said and looked away.

He felt a wave of relief when Miku had stopped takling and let him has a moment to think. 'What... What should I do now? I can't leave Rin alone... But if I don't, I will disappear... But I don't want to be separated from her, I...'

"And what would you like to order?" The waitress finally came after what they could count as half an hour, though she was giving them a chance to talk, but 30 minutes?

Both Miku and Len made a mental note not to come to that café again, while Neru kept typing something to someone peacefully with her phone, she didn't care about the waitress' existence.

"Um, me..." Miku looked down at the menu the waitress just put on the table, "Kagamine-sama can choose first."

"No, ladies first." Len said. From where did he got that phrase?

"Mineral water," Neru said withut looking away from her phone.

"Then I will order mineral water as well..." Miku said. "Then Kagamine-sama..."

Before ordering a beverage, he shot a somewhat-glare to Miku for calling him like that, "Mineral water..."

"So, 3 mineral water." The waitress repeated, "Please wait a moment while we prepare your orders." And the waitress left the table and mumbled to herself, "I hate those people who only order mineral water... It's something you can get easily on the market, no need to come here, at least order something more valuable..."

* * *

Back to the table, the three of them waited for the orders to come in an awkward silence nobody bothered to break.

"How's life going?" Len suddenly asked and startled Miku successfully.

"What do you mean?" She asked back.

"Never mind." He quickly replied to end the conversation.

"...I do have something to ask, though." Miku said after he ended up the conversation, and she started another, "It's nothing concerning the Afterworld... About my brother. You go to the same school as him if I'm not mistaken..."

When Miku mentioned 'her brother'—just a 'her brother', no mention of name at all, but enough to make Len felt a little part of him froze. Miku's brother was okay for him—actually he could view him as his acquaintance, but he remembered what Rin had told him (at a rather random time) that he should be careful with Miku's brother. Then she talked about he was being a gay, then he was a pedophile... Things like that.

"Don't get too close to him. He might... Get interested in you... He's a gay, right? So the 'already cute you' will become his next victim because his crush had unfortunately has a girlfriend! Then, your cute look is something people can not resist, including the male population... I think I would fall for you because of your cuteness even if I'm a guy..."

Recalling her words, he did realize that what had made him froze wasn't Miku's brother himself, or the fact that he was a gay, or/and pedo-whatever, but _Rin_, the one who said that.

"I do." He answered, "Is there something you need from that?"

"..." Miku opened her mouth but didn't say anything... At least for a minute, "I was just wondering, whether he's okay or not... I mean, I was his sister, I'm supposed to look for him."

"...like that?"

"Of course, like that. That's what siblings do." She said with a little smile, "What about Rin-san? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," he said, "She still hasn't remembered me... Though I think that's the best."

"Why?"

"She..." He paused, "She changed after she knew that I was dead and after that our parents..."

"Oh, I feel sorry for her..." Miku spoke since Len didn't continue his words. "...and Kagamine-sama, your mother is—"

Miku stopped talking instantly when she saw Len pulled out his phone from his pocket when he felt it vibrating. A call.

"Um, hello?"

"Ah, Len," the voice from the other line said, "I... I'm sorry..."

"Gumi?" He asked, "What's wrong?"

He heard a sigh, "Rin, she... She found out."

Not getting the meaning, Len asked back, "Found what?"

"No, actually it is my fault...!" Gumi said half-yelling, "S-she found out that you are..."

Both confused and panicked, Len asked, "She... She what?"

"She found out an album with our childhood picture, then she started asking things about you," she paused for a while to catch her breath, "Then it went on, until..."

There was a pause. A bad timing to pause.

"Until," she continued again, "Until she finally realized that Kagamine Len, the person whose grave she always sees everytime she visits her parents, was her brother who had died..." She trailed off.

"Why..." He said after a long silence after her last words, "Why did you tell her?"

He could hear her breath from the other line. He waited for her answer.

"Because I—"

And he hung up.

Miku, who had been 'listening' the conversation (1-way conversation), looked at him with concern.

"Kagamine-sama, is everything okay?"

He closed his phone, then looked at the teal-haired girl in front of him, "Seems that I have to go."

"Oh... Okay." She said with no enthusiasm, "Thank you for coming and hear my explanation... Kagamine-sama. Sorry for taking your break."

"It's okay." He said as he stood up.

Then Miku added, "About going back, it's up to your decision but... Honestly, I think no one in the Afterworld wants you to disappear just like that and chooses another ruler."

He looked at her for a moment, straight into her eyes.

"Don't be selfish and only think about yourself... Think of your people as well..." Miku forced those words to come out from her mouth, though she was feeling really scared to say that.

Then he smiled, "I will."

And left.

"He left." Miku said to particularly no one, but Neru replied her by a meaningless grunt. Miku remembered clearly his smile. The usual smile he gave to everyone back then in Afterworld.

A smile just curled up on her face, "He really still hasn't changed, Kagamine-sama..."

* * *

Again, walking in the crowd with a fast pace, Len headed back home. Because Gumi said...

First he just knew that he was going to disappear, and then Rin found out that he was... Dead.

The voice sighed before speaking, '_Things are getting hard, hm?_'

'But I don't believe in her.' Len said to the voice.

'_Who? Hatsune Miku?_' He asked, '_Why? You sound convinced with her explanations._'

'Not that one, the last part.'

'_Uh-huh?_'

'She said no one wants me to disappear, but I,' he paused, 'feel like no one's going to care about that. I wonder why...'

* * *

Omake

* * *

Though Neru was busy with her phone, she was hearing the whole conversation of Miku and Len. Not only that, she did notice Miku's movement, mostly her eyes which followed the waiters' movement.

She thought that moment would just last for a moment. And when it actually lasted longer than what she had expected, she had to open her mouth and spoke, "What the hell are you doing, Miku?"

"Watching the waiters," Miku said without diverting her attention, "Working too often on the café makes me want to do the same thing like what they're doing right now. Being the one who got served is strange..."

Len commented, "…after you said that, I realize it does…"

Neru sighed and turning back her whole attention to the phone, though not before she gave a last comment to that topic, "Whatever..."


	38. Chapter 38: Rin

~~Updated at December 27th as Kagamine's birthday present, 10 chapters after a chapter titled 'Len', the 38th chapter titled 'Rin'. Happy 4th birthday, Rin and Len!

* * *

A loud bam echoed throughout the empty house, not to mention the lack of light in the house, courtesy of the earth-loving girl who happened to live there. But the said girl didn't seem to be in the house, so there was him, her brother, slamming the every door one-by-one to find her, maybe she was somewhere behind the doors.

"She's not here..." He said after he slammed the eighth door in that house. He walked into the room and looked around. None, he found no one.

He immediately walked away from the room, not really bothered to close the door back, and went to another door. Again, he slammed the door open but still hadn't found the girl he was looking for.

"Not here as well..." He said as he breathed out. In less than 5 seconds, he left the room once again and made his way upstairs to the attic, the only place he hadn't checked.

"Rin!" He called as he opened the door to the attic. There was no Rin in sight, and the silence was the one who greeted him.

"..." He walked into the attic, looking at the things he hadn't had the chance to tidy earlier in the morning, thanks to his habit of waking up late and the fact that he had a small meeting didn't help. In front of his eyes, one or two music sheet placed carelessly on top of the piano, and the photo albums he looked in the previous night were still there, on the corner making a little mess. Though he could see one album seemed to be... Missing.

'...so she found it out first because of this...?' He thought, 'Actually if I tidy it up in the morning and didn't let this scattered like this, she wouldn't notice it, but... Well, this is something that had been done, no use in thinking it again.'

But his main concern was Rin, and he still hadn't found her. 'Where could she be? I think she had left Gumi's house since she called me like that but... Now, where is she?'

He walked out from the attic, ran to the front door and dashed away from the house. But stopped right away when he realized that he had no idea where to go.

Then, out from nowhere, someone cleared his/her throat. He looked around but he found no one in sight.

"Uh, sorry... Good evening..." The voice probably from before said. Now he could recognize it as a girl's voice.

Rin's voice.

"I... I am Rin and I..." She continued. He got really confused because he could hear her voice, but didn't see her anywhere. "I... I..." She said, repeating the 'I' again and again, not getting to the point at all.

'Where's she?'

_'Duh, use your brain,'_ The voice said mockingly, _'If you can hear her, she must be in the—_'

'Cemetery.' He finished.

'_Well, that's it..._'

Then he started to run after he knew where to go.

"I..." The 'I' echo was still there.

'Means that she's still there as well.' He thought as he continued running. But soon his legs got tired from running—he had ran like crazy in the morning!—and he was already out of breath.

'There's no use running, I won't make it...' He thought, and he stopped.

'_What?_' The voice said.

Len sighed, '...not really...'

* * *

Chapter 38

* * *

She stared, just stared at the grave in front of her. Her gaze was blank, and her face showed almost no expression.

'I always wondered who this person is.' She thought. 'I wondered, maybe he's my cousin? Relative? But I get no answer.'

'Now I got the answer but...' She brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth. At the same time, her gaze on the grave softened, 'But why did he have to be my brother, who died rather tragically in front of my best friend's eyes?'

'Why did he have to be the one who turn me into someone like this? Forgetting him like he was no one to me...'

'And why does someone who looks like him live with me? And what make it worst is, I love him. I love Len.' '...but, Kagamine Len is my brother... I mean, was.'

'I... I don't understand all of this.'

She kneeled down, lowering her position so she was on the same level with the grave.

"Uh, sorry... Good evening..." She started, talking to the grave like an idiot. But an idiot or not, she didn't care, "I... I am Rin and I..."

"I..." She repeated. 'Now, what to say?'

She said the 'I' for more than 10 times. She didn't care, who would hear her?

She managed to say some other words after that, "I want to say sorry that I..." But at the end she got speechless again.

Want to say sorry that she what? She forgot about him? All the things they did together, and she didn't even remember about his existence in her life. And she was going to say 'sorry for forgetting you' just like that?

She replayed the events in her head. Her memory was now as clear as a crystal—the moment she play with him, eat with him, sleep with him, do practically everything with him... And the moment when he didn't came back. After that, the moment when her mother told her a white lie about his whereabouts, the moment when she broke when she knew the truth, the moment she suddenly forgot about him...

Everything.

Without realizing it, tears were rolling down her cheeks. The tears ended up touching her hand, making her aware of its presence, and she wiped it off immediately.

"I want to say..." She tried to speak, but her voice came out shaky. "I-I want to... I..."

Tears flowed again. This time she didn't bother to wipe them off—she let them fell freely from her eyes. She felt that someone was watching her, but who would care seeing her crying?

"I know it must be hurt to be forgotten." She whispered, her voice was nowhere to be found. "But please forgive me that... That I... I forgot you. I forgot everything we did together with Gumi, I forgot everything the two of us did, I forgot your existence..." She blurted out.

She felt the last part sliced her heart into two.

"I really am sorry...!" She said, "It's... It's okay if you hate me because of this... Really, it's okay, I deserve this."

Silence greeted her, but sobs still could be heard. Whimpers were also escape from her mouth.

"Len..." She said.

In the same time, the feeling of being watched increased to an extreme level. She ended up looking back at what stood behind her because of that cautious feeling. And her eyes widened immediately at the sight.

Len, standing about 5 meters away behind her. He had been watching her silently with a look of concern without making any sound.

And one more thing that made her really shocked. His white wings, they were there, sprouting from his back, flapping slightly as the wind blew.

That was the time when the wings—no, everything finally made sense.

Thinking of that made Rin wanted to scream and cry even more. But she couldn't.

She couldn't but she didn't know why. So she just sat there, looking at Len as he looked at her as well.

Somehow seeing his face, which had awkward resemblance to her brother and herself made her remember about her past even more.

That time before everything happened.

* * *

_"The two of you are miracles."_

_"Miracles? Somekind of sweets?" A 5 year-old Rin asked innocently as her mother said a word she didn't... Understand._

_"No, no dear..." Lily laughed lightly while saying that, "Miracle is... Something..." Lily got lost, she didn't know how to explain the meaning of 'miracle' to 5 years old children. Asking them to open the dictionary wasn't a choice, either. Dictionary just limits their 'wonderful' imagination._

_"Something... What, mom?" Rin asked as she found out that her mother hadn't explained what miracle means to her._

_"Miracle isn't something I can explain." Lily said truthfully, earning an 'awww' of disappointment from her daughter. "But maybe I can explain what I mean by that... Let's see..." She put her hand on her chin and start thinking seriously, "Ah, I said the two of you are miracles, right? Now Rin, do you think you look like Len?"_

_Rin nodded, "Yep, because we're twins, right?"_

_"That's it. Having identical twin children is a miracle to me... Usually identical twins have the same gender, but here are the two of you, different."_

_"I get it..." Rin nodded, though Lily doubted that she actually understand. "But what if Len is a girl? Then it's not a miracle?"_

_Len who was standing next to Rin turned his head to Rin, giving a look of disapproval._

_Rin only laughed._

_"Don't worry, Len is Len, a boy. Being twins is a miracle." Rin said, twirling in a circle. "Len, hear that? We are miracles!"_

_Lily smiled seeing her daughter._

_She loved being a mother with 2 children who always made her happy._

_'Miracles...'_

* * *

_Rin didn't bother since when she had been friends with Gumi—she never bothered, actually. But Gumi was her best friend (beside Len) who she usually played with after school ended. Maybe it was because her house was the closest? Or maybe because their parents knew each other pretty well?_

_As long as she had Gumi as her friend, Rin didn't want tot think about that. She was only 5 years old, anyway, why bothered?_

_So there the two of them—her brother and herself—with Gumi in the small but still enjoyable park, it still had a slide and swings... The three of them were currently sitting on the sandbox, not caring about getting their skirt and shorts dirty, playing pointlessly with the sand._

_Rin looked at the heap of the sand that was unknowingly in front of her. Maybe someone, either Gumi or Len, made it and she didn't notice it?_

_"A sand mountain..." She said._

_Gumi looked at her, then the 'sand mountain', "Eh, what?"_

_"Never mind." Rin said. Then she glanced to his brother, who was... Staring back at her._

_She never knew why Len was untalkative, unlike her._

_"Do you need something?" She asked._

_He shook his head, "No."_

_"Well, then..." She said, "Let's go to the swing! Who reaches the swing faster wins!" And she ran away to the swing._

_"Ah!" Gumi widened her eyes when Rin was already 5 meters ahead, then she ran to the swing as well, "How unfair!" She cried._

_Rin just laughed, looking back at her green-haired friend while still running, "But it's fun to have a race like this!"_

_Unfortunately, one innocent pebble was waiting ahead, and Rin didn't saw it. She tripped by the pebble and fell down after that. "Oof!"_

_Gumi stopped running and looked back, since she had caught up with her, "Rin?"_

_"Rin! Are you okay?" Len ran to her from behind. It didn't look that he play along with her game, though. He just sat there on the sandbox until... Well, until she tripped._

_She grinned at him, "Of course I am! Though this is..." She pointed at her bleeding knee._

_"Then let's get back to the house!" He said as he pulled Rin and ran to the house, Gumi followed behind with as concerned look to Rin._

_"N-not so fast! It's hurting!" Rin said._

_Len stopped running immediately, "Sorry..."_

_They continued their way to the Kagamine's house walking. After they arrived, Lily was the one who was waiting near the door._

_She looked at the children who looked tired, then to Rin's bleeding knee._

_"...again?" She asked to herself._

* * *

_"That should do it." Lily said, patting Rin's knee that was now bandaged._

_"Ehehe, sorry mom..." Rin said, "I will watch my steps next time."_

_"Now that's my good girl..." She said. "Now the three of you are here... Go play something together!"_

_"Right!" Rin said enthusiastically as she stood up and ran to her room to take some toys._

_"...is her knee okay already?" Len asked. She said it was hurting before, but in less than ten minutes, it was gone._

_Somehow, that was what Len liked from his sister, she always looked happy._

_"I think so." Gumi said._

_"And this is it!" Rin suddenly threw a box full of toys to the floor, causing the content to jump off the box._

_"Rin, you'll break it..." Gumi commented._

_"No, I won't." Rin said easily. "Now, what should we play?"_

* * *

_"Eh, no!" Rin said with sad and surprised face._

_"...what 'no'?" Len asked._

_"I... I left my bow in the park!" She said._

_Now Len thought about it. That was why something seemed to be missing from Rin's head..._

_Both of them got out from their room and walked to the front door._

_"Mom! We're going to go out for a while!" Rin shouted and walked out from the house, not waiting for an answrer with Len following behind her._

_They walked to the park together, side by side, hand in hand. Anyone passed by would take a glance at them and thought, 'What an adorable siblings...'_

_Len looked at Rin, hesitating before finally spoke, "How did you left your bow? You always have it on your head..."_

_Rin pouted, "I removed it because it's getting on the way when we played with Gumi earlier... I put it carelessly on the swing and I forgot to pick it up... Maybe because mom already called us to get back home... It's late now..."_

_Then Rin and Len looked up to the sky which was getting darker in ans awkward silence._

_"Do you think it's okay to get out...?" Rin asked. When they were already outside._

_"I don't think so..." He said with a worried look at her. She replied with a sheepish laugh. "We just have to make this quick..."_

_"Right." She said._

_Finally they reached the park. They walked around the park and searched for the bow, which seemed to be missing from the place before._

_"Eh, where is it?" Rin asked, still looking around. "I think I put it here..." She walked around the swings._

_And then, an awkward silence again._

_"I think." Rin repeated, breaking the silence. Then she sighed, "Aah~ I wish I could be more... Responsible to my belongings just like you, Len..."_

_"...really?" Len asked. His sister—the one he admired because of her personality that could cheer almost everyone—was...?_

_"Really..." She said, "Because leaving things like this means get into a trouble—I never like it, a trouble."_

_Len glanced at Rin, and looked away before she realizes that he was looking at her. "But..."_

_Then they heard someone... No, at least 2 people talking to each other. What they were talking was unclear, but both of them knew that they were getting nearer._

_Rin remembered her mother's saying. Always be careful with the surroundings._

_The getting dark sky wasn't helping at all, it just made the atmosphere became worse._

_"Len..." Rin whispered to him._

_"It's okay, Rin..." He said. But she could hear a slight uncertainty from hids voice._

_The voice getting clearer and clearer, also means it was getting nearer. Then two people revealed theirselves from the small road._

_2 people. One female with a long, wavy pink colored hair, and the other one was..._

_Rin hung her mouth open slightly. The other person... A him? But somehow... Wait, a female?_

_"Still, I don't believe in you." The person with an unknown gender (but from the voice, Rin took that person as a him, although that person had a ridiculous long purple hair in a ponytail) said while looking at the pink haired girl._

_The pink haired girl (actually she was in her late teen) seemed to notice her gaze, and she walked into the park then looked at her and Len worriedly._

_"It's getting late, why aren't the two of you home?" She asked with a slight worried look on her face._

_Strangely, Rin didn't have any suspicion on the pink-haired... Girl, so she answered, "We're looking for something..."_

_"This late? Do your parents know about this? What are you looking for?" She asked at once._

_"Um... A bow." She said hesitantly._

_"Then let me help you, so you can get home soon." She said and began to walk, "Bad people is everywhere, that one for an example." She said, pointing at her purple-haired companion with her index finger._

_The man (man? Rin doubted this, even Len did too) shook his head, then looked at the pink haired girl with a playful smirk on his face, "There, don't tell wrong information to children... You'll ruin their point-of-view of the world. And you want to be a teacher with that mean personality of you? It doesn't suit you, believe me."_

_"J-just shut up!" She said, then turned back to Rin and Len, "So let's hurry and find the bow."_

_Rin and Len nodded together in unison. After that they began to look over the park... Again._

_The girl tried her best to help the children, but something really bothered her... "You there!" She called, accusing a finger to the boy again, "At least help me!"_

_He sighed and came closer to her._

_"Help her, not me!" She snapped at him, gesturing at Rin._

_He rolled his eyes while thinking, 'Fine... But you said 'help me'...'_

* * *

_After some minutes of searching, they found Rin's bow... In the heap of the sands in the sandbox with the help of the girl and the boy, whose names were unrevealed. The pink haired girl said that she was glad that they can help them, and told them to get home quickly. After that, she went away with the boy. Rin and Len did the same as well, they walked back home._

_"Eh, Len..." Rin started, "Sorry for bringing you into my problem..."_

_Len shook his head, "No, it's okay. If I noticed it early, I could remind you... Sorry."_

_"No! It's not Len's fault!" Rin said. "It's not your fault for not noticing it."_

_Len had opened his mouth to retort back, but then he decided to close it again._

_"Now the bow is already in my hand! Thanks for the kind onee-chan from before... And the scary purple-haired man..."_

_"...what if that person kidnaps you?" Len asked with no reason._

_"Eeek! Then you have to rescue me!" Rin said._

_Len smiled, "But I won't let him kidnaps you."_

_"Eh, like that?" Rin asked with curiosity in her eyes._

_Len nodded, "Like that."_

* * *

_Their mother scolded them non-stop after they got home, and Rin cried because of guilt..._

_Lily hmph-ed before saying the last sentence directed to her children in that day, "Next time, Rin, watch your belongings and Len, look for your sister."_

_Both of them nodded and walked to their room. They threw theirselves on the bed and stared at the ceiling._

_Rin sniffed, then looked at her brother, "Sorry, Len. I made you got scolded as well..."_

_"No need to say that." He said. "We're twins... One has a problem, then the other one has to help."_

_Rin looked at him for some seconds before speaking, "Um, you're right..."_

_Rin always loved her brother... As her brother. The way he cared about her, his kindness, not only that..._

_They continued staring at the ceiling in a silence. The Rin shifted again, making a slight noise._

_"Then, I have a request." She said, "Next time, remind me if I forget about something..."_

_But she got no answer, which ticked her off._

_Rin glanced at her brother, and she found him already sleeping. She smiled and ruffled his hair softly._

_"Len is tired already, I should ask him tomorrow..." She said to herself, before pulling the blankets up so it would cover both of them to keep them warm._

_"Good night, Len." She said before closing her eyes and went to sleep._

* * *

_Happy moment with her family, happy moment with her friends... Everything didn't last forever. It was about the time for the little girl's happy, peaceful, free from trouble and problem life to end._

_Everything started when they planned to make a flower crown, all inspired by a random show on the television. Then Len went out to take some flowers..._

_And didn't come back until the night._

_He had left before Gumi arrived in their house to play, until she went back home... He still hadn't come back. She had a good time with Gumi, playing with Gumi (it was 'playing around' with Gumi, actually). Gumi's mother was there as well, while Rin's mom left the house and didn't come back until evening. She came back, but Len didn't._

_She felt weird sleeping with her mother and father with the absence of her brother. She used to sleep with him since they were 4, and a night without him was... Strange._

_Somehow, she had a bad feeling._

* * *

_Rin just finished her drawing her just made for Gumi, as the payback of the drawing that she gave her. Although before giving it to Gumi, she thought it would be good if she show it to her mother first, so she did._

_She walked out from her room and searched for her mom. It wasn't hard to find her mother, she was sitting on the couch with the telephone in her hand and it was pressed to her ears. Lily had told her not to speak or do anything to her when she's making a call, so being a good girl, she waited behind the couch until her mother finished the call._

_"Yes... Hm, yes..." Rin heard her mother said to the telephone, "...the funeral? Yes..." She paused, "No, I don't want her to know... Yes. Yes... Don't worry, it's fine... Yes, thank you."_

_And she put the phone back on its place. Seeing this, Rin knew immediately that her mother had finished calling and now she could speak to her, so..._

_"Mom, see this!"_

_"UWAH!" Lily exclaimed as she heard someone spoke, she even jumped at the voice, literally. Then she saw her daughter, extending a paper to her. But she took it back to her, confused why her mom freaked out really badly seeing her. "O-oh, it's you Rin... What is it?" Lily asked after regaining her composure._

_"A... Drawing..." Rin said hesitantly, then she extended her hands again. There Lily could see the picture in it. "I made it for Gumi who gave me a drawing yesterday!"_

_Lily smiled at the drawing, "It's good..."_

_Rin giggled, "Thank you, mom!" She exclaimed happily._

_She thought for a moment, and it made Lily wonder what she was doing. After that, Rin asked with that big curiosity in her eyes. "Mom, what's a funeral?"_

_Lily's face looked shocked in a brief milliseconds, but after that she smiled playfully and pinched Rin's cheeks, "Don't eavesdrop on the others' conversation, bad Rin~"_

_"Hyaa~ Sorry mom..." Rin said as she moaned from the slight pain, but she was smiling, knowing that her mother wasn't really mad to her—she thought Lily wasn't even mad, actually..._

_Lily stopped pinching Rin's cheeks and started explaining, "Funeral is... Where the dead person's body gets buried and some other... Things that have something to do with the person that had died... Like mentioning their good deeds and at the end, people put flowers at the grave..."_

_Rin really had no idea what her mother was talking about. She tilted her head in confusion, and she was going to ask what 'dead' means, but the phone rang right when she opened her mouth._

_Lily looked at the ringing telephone, and then to Rin. Then she smiled and motioned a shoo-shoo to her daughter._

_Rin giggled, "Right, I won't eavesdrop again!" She said as she walked away from the room._

* * *

_One day, about a week after Len's 'disappearance', Rin, who had kept her curiosity about Len's absence to herself, finally decided to ask her mother. The fact that no one talked about Len in her house bugged her even more._

_Like it was normal for a 6-year-old to 'disappear' from the family, or went out and never come back._

_Rin found her mother rather quickly, she was arranging the lilies on the vase on the dining table. Talk about her name..._

_She walked closer to her mother, and she began by pulling Lily's skirt lightly._

_"Mom..." She said._

_Lily looked down at her daughter who was pulling her skirt, "Hey—oh, Rin? What is it?"_

_"Have you seen Len?"_

_"Hm?" Lily raised an eyebrow, "Isn't he picking the flowers?"_

_Rin looked at her with her innocent big emerald eyes, "Um, right."_

_"So?" Her mother asked._

_"Eeeh... I was wondering, where he was because I haven't seen him for a while and... I want to make the flower crown, together, with him..."_

_Lily just smiled after that, then she said, "Rin, can you help me with this flowers?"_

_Rin forgot her main purpose asking her mother, and she agreed instantly, "Ah, sure!"_

* * *

_Days and days passed, and Rin asked her mother about Len everyday and her answer stayed the same, "He's picking the flowers."_

_Was picking flower needed that so much time? If it was her, she would manage to take it in less than an hour. But Len had spent more than a week... Though she had went out several times and passed by the flower garden, she never saw him there._

_Was something happened to him?_

_"Mom, where's Len?" She asked again._

_Lily glanced from the book she was reading to her daughter. She just looked at her without saying anything. Just... Quiet._

_"M... Mom, what's wrong? Why don't you say anything?" She asked innocently._

_It took about a minute for Lily to finally say a word, "Rin... Do you... Really want to know?"_

_"...about what?" She asked._

_"About Len." Lily sighed heavily._

_"Of course I want to!" Rin said without hesitation._

_Lily's face saddened a bit, "Then, come here." She said, gesturing at her laps and asked Rin to sit on it._

_Rin climbed up the chair and sat on her mother's lap._

_"Rin, are you sure?" Her mother asked again. It was clear that she hesitated to say the truth to Rin._

_And instantly, Rin knew that something bad must had happened._

_"I-I'm sure! What is it?" Rin asked, her voice was a bit panicked._

_Then Lily hugged her from behind tightly, making Rin got startled a bit from the sudden hug._

_"Len had... Died, Rin..."_

* * *

_The first thing Rin did after hearing the 'dead' word was…_

_Gaping._

_She remembered that she was going to ask the meaning of 'dead' to her mother, but she hadn't gotten the chance to. That time when she asked what a funeral is…_

_Where dead person gets buried? Then…_

_"And mom, what 'dead' means?" She asked again with pure curiosity._

_Lily blinked twice, a bit surprised with her daughter's question. She thought Rin already knew what dead means…_

_And Rin didn't know what dead means, then she had to explain it to her?_

_'Ouch, this is going to be really hard to tell…' She thought._

_She sighed before she started, "Rin… You do know what we're alive now, right? Because we're alive, we do things like eating, talking, walking, sleeping, playing, reading, and many more. But the most important thing, the main activity that decides whether that person is alive or not is… To breath, and for our heart to beat." Then she took Rin's right hand and placed it on her chest, "You can feel it, right? Ba-dump, ba-dump, like that."_

_Rin nodded, "Yeah, I can."_

_"It means your heart it's beating. Then, what do you think if you hold your breath for a minute?"_

_Rin innocently tried to hold her breath, but she quickly inhaled, 10 seconds hadn't even passed. "I can't!"_

_Lily just smiled, "Because you need to breath, your body will always make you inhale and exhale your breaths. You breathe without realizing it, right?"_

_Rin nodded._

_"The same goes to your heart. Do you ever ask it to beat? You never, right? It beats by itself unconsciously. Without breath and heart which circulate your blood by beating, you'll die."_

_Rin didn't fully understand what her mother was talking about, or what the point was, she only nodded again._

_"Dead people, means that they don't do all things we do anymore. They don't breathe, their heart doesn't beat anymore. They don't have any 'life' anymore. They…" She stopped purposely and she started to stroke Rin's head softly._

_"If… If Len has no… Life, then where is he?" Rin turned to face her mother._

_Lily got surprised by Rin's sudden snap and opened her mouth, though she didn't say anything._

_"Then…" Rin said again, looking down, "I can't play with him anymore?"_

_Lily shook her head slowly, "…no."_

_"I can't hear his voice again?"_

_"…no. No, Rin…" She hugged Rin even tighter, if it is possible. Somehow, not too tight, Rin didn't feel suffocated or anything else that made her uncomfortable. Or maybe she didn't even care about that, her mind was focused on Len._

_"I can't see him again?" Rin said again, her voice started to shake._

_This time Lily didn't gave her any reply, she was holding her own tears, that's why._

_And that was the time when Lily realized that telling the truth later to her daughter was a wrong choice. She didn't even have the chance to see him for the last time…_

_"For… Ever?" Rin asked, and it was clear that she was crying, it could be heard from her voice._

_Lily didn't answer that, instead she apologized, "Sorry… Sorry, Rin…"_

* * *

_"I'm sorry…"_

* * *

_That was the first cruel truth she got in her life._

_"Gumi…" She said when she was with Gumi, swinging on the swings slowly in the park, "You were right after all…"_

_Gumi slowly turned her head to Rin—she had been looking at the sky before that—and she felt uneasy._

_What was Rin going to say? The usual things she had been saying lately, about waiting for Len? Gumi had known it that he wouldn't come back, but Rin…_

_She was afraid that Rin would know the truth. She didn't want her to hurt because of that…_

_But Rin had already looking… Unlike usual. The usual Rin was the one who smiles, and Rin wasn't smiling as she sat beside her._

_"About what?" She asked, hoping that it wasn't about Len—_

_Somehow, her wish didn't get granted._

_"Len won't come back, he had died already, right?"_

_Gumi didn't say anything, she was too shocked to say even a word._

_'She found it out already.'_

_But when Rin said that, the image of his corpse just passed her mind, making her shook her head to 'erase' it._

_"…what's wrong?" Rin asked, her voice had no tone in it._

_Gumi gulped, "That's… That's right." She answered her first question instead of the later one._

_"You've known it, but you didn't tell me anything about that." Rin said monotonously._

_"I… I don't want you to—"_

_"I still want to play with him, do things together with him… And be with him. But it's not possible anymore…"_

_Gumi still looked at her friend worriedly. And she started to panic when she saw tears rolling down Rin's cheek._

_"Maybe… Maybe you will meet him again…" She said unsurely._

_"No!" Rin yelled, "It's not possible!"_

_Then somehow, she calmed herself down after yelling, but tears flowed down even more from her eyes._

_And right there, Gumi stood up from the swings and hugged Rin who needed some comfort._

_"No, I'm sure you will."_

* * *

_The first, Len's death._

_The second, her parents got killed in a car crash about a month—just a month—after Len's death. Not only one, both of them._

_Again, she lost her family member. Now she was alone. Even though like that, she still had her best friend, Gumi._

_So currently, the two of them was in Gumi's house, right after the funeral of Rin's parents._

_"Gumi, I…" She said, "Do you think I'll be okay by myself."_

_Gumi nodded, somehow hesitantly, but Rin didn't really notice this, "It's okay, Rin. You can."_

_Because she doubted it. Rin already changed from her cheery personality after she found out about Len's death, and her parents' death depressed her even more._

_How was she supposed to live on with that burden, by herself?_

_"But I…" Rin said, and didn't continue._

_"What is it?" Gumi asked._

_Then Rin smiled, "No, nothing."_

* * *

_Rin woke up pretty early the day after that. She stretched her arms to the air. She heard the bird chirping from the outside. So she immediately opened the window._

_"Good morning, everyone in the world!" She yelled on the window, full of spirit—if anyone happened to pass by, they would surely turned their head to the source of the loud and full of excitement voice._

_Then she skipped to the living room to reach the kitchen to fetch some oranges. She passed by a framed photo on the table. Then she looked at that picture for a moment. Herself, her mom and dad._

_"Morning, mom and dad!"_

_Sure they had died, just a few days ago. But should it change her?_

_'It's the fate.' She thought. As her mother said, everything is caused by fate._

_It was Saturday, so she had no school. She thought of visiting Gumi. So she hurriedly walked to the bathroom and prepared herself. She had to visit Gumi early, before her aunt who was supposed to look for her came to her house (and like, live with her until she had gotten old enough to live by herself), because she had no one watching over her, a 6-year-old child._

_After taking a bath and dressed, Rin ran outside quickly, not before locking the door. Gumi's house was too close, she can reach it in less than 10 seconds by running._

_Rin didn't expect Gumi to stand in front of her house, so she didn't have to knock he door and asked for her whereabouts, "Gumi! Good morning!"_

_Gumi, on the other hand, was really confused with Rin's real cheery voice and smile. Even like that, she greeted back, "Rin, good morning!"_

_"What are you doing here so early?" Rin asked, walking near her._

_Gumi laughed, still with that strange feeling, "The same goes to you. What are you doing?"_

_"I want to play with Gumi because no one's home…" Rin said easily. "Besides, my aunt will come later, so I better play with Gumi first, then meeting her after that. And you haven't answered my question! Answer it now!"_

_"I'm going to water the flowers in the garden." Gumi said, pointing at the small flower garden._

_"Then I'm going to do it with you!" She said excitedly._

_'When actually she's scaring me… Yesterday she was all depressed, and now… It's good that she's happy, but somehow… Strange.' Gumi didn't want to think like that, but she couldn't help it._

_They took the watering can (Rin had to go back to her house to take one), then filled it with water, and began watering the flowers._

_"It's all done!" Rin said excitedly, after they finished. "It's pretty fast eh? Maybe because we're together…"_

_"Um, ye—" Gumi was going to answer, but Rin had pulled her hand and took her away, "What… Where are we going, Rin?"_

_"The park, of course—playing!"_

* * *

_In her head, Gumi still questioned Rin's change of attitude—no, it was more to a change of mood._

_And she was watering the flower garden, but didn't talk about Len—she assumed that was the last place he visited, and Rin was supposed to know that he went there, because he said "**Rin asked me** to."_

_Len's absence had finally got accepted in Rin's mind?_

_And there she was, still thinking about Rin and Len, while leaning on the swing post. Rin was swinging happily on the swing, continually asking her to join her at the swing, but Gumi didn't feel like 'swinging'._

_She even ended up burying her head in her dress while hugging her knees, "I wonder what Len is doing right now…" Maybe dead person still do things up there… Perhaps yes?_

_Her words made Rin stopped swinging right after she said that. Then she panicked, 'Oh no, I… I reminded her.'_

_Then Rin spoke, "…Len? Who is that person…? A-ah, don't tell me now Gumi, I'll figure this out by myself… Uh, let me guess… Ah, it must be your friend!"_

_What?_

_Just… What?_

_"So my guess must be right, then!" Rin said happily, and Gumi just realized Rin made that conclusion because she didn't say anything._

_Then Gumi looked at her with wide eyes, "…Rin?"_

_Rin, who had been looking at Gumi, smiled, "What?"_

* * *

"Len, I don't know you can hear me or not, I'm not in the usual place—Rin's should be there and I don't know how to face her. But… I… I've always believed that you'll come back. With that way, Rin would… Rin would be happy again. I want Rin to smile again, stop being a trouble seeker, and make everything just like before.

But why I ended up making her run like that with a sad expression on her face? Did I make her sad?"

* * *

They still stared at each other silently for a long time. None of them knew what to say.

Len ended up as the one who spoke first, "Rin…"

"Len…" Rin said as response, her head was lowered. A moment later, she lifted her head up, tears began to fill her already teary eyes again.

Then, one drop of tear fell from her eyes. She bit her lip, then without saying anything else, she ran away from the scene.

However, Len didn't go for her this time, although now she was running away in front of his eyes.

_'And you're not going to run after her?_' The voice asked.

He sighed, 'Nothing I can do for now. Besides… She won't like it if I go after her…'

'_Then what are you gonna do?_'

He looked at the direction where Rin run to, "…"

* * *

~~Now that's a real over-sized chapter I uploaded in a rush! But I made it!

Tell me the errors, please! And 39!


	39. Chapter 39: Siblings

~~_Rin found her mother sitting on the sofa with a book in her hand. Though she was holding the book, it didn't seem like she was reading it, it was more like 'looking' at the book._

_So she walked closer to her mother, then she tugged her mother's shirt slowly, "Mom..."_

_Feeling the tug, Lily looked at her daughter, "What is it, Rin?" No, she didn't need it. She was in a not-good mood, and if Rin asked something strange, sure she would explode._

_"Um..." Rin hesitated to tell Lily for a moment. "Where... Is Len?"_

_The innocent Rin just didn't know her mother was having a PMS. Asking that question wasn't a right thing to do, but Rin, being clueless, had no idea about that. At all._

_Lily face-palmed. It was like... The _fiftieth_ time Rin asked that, and lately that question annoyed her. Why didn't she just tell her the truth so she wouldn't ask anymore forever?_

_Without thinking, Lily blurted out, "Len is dead, Rin. No need to ask it again, you won't see him again..."_

_Rin froze hearing her mother's answer. She just... Didn't expect that. Then, with watery eyes, she asked, "W-what?"_

_Lily quickly realized the mistake she just made, and she covered her mouth immediately._

_'What did I just do...?'_

...it was like that, but it sounds plain stupid... PMS, heh. So I changed the way Lily acted on Rin's question... And I just wrote (typed) that without looking at the previous chapter, so it's a bit different. This is useless... So, on to the 39th chapter ↓

* * *

"Rin, I'm sorry for what had happened earlier... I am... Really sorry, Rin. I didn't mean to hurt you by telling you everything... -Gumi"

Rin read the message blankly in her locked-up room with the lamps off-it was night already, so she currently only relied to the moonlight. With that way, her phone monitor shone brightly.

She hesitated whether to reply or not. She rolled on the bed, then stopped and read the message again.

Then she thought. Was that Gumi's fault? All Gumi did was telling her that Len had died, that's all.

All that made her cry like 4 hours non stop while burying her face to the pillows and threw the pillow afterwards (and she picked it up again). She would be really surprised if she looked into the mirror and found her eyes weren't swollen. So, when Gumi sent her that message, she got into a fight to herself, to reply or not. If she end up replying, to forgive or not.

But in her mind, Rin thought as well. And the result of her thought was: It wasn't Gumi's fault at all.

When she thought like that, she picked up her phone and thinking of pressing the 'reply' button and said, "It's okay."

But the fact, she hesitated again when the phone was already in her hand.

'I don't understand this by myself...' She thought. 'It wasn't anyone's fault that I went to the attic and found an opened photo album... And the rest. But somehow...'

But then she thought, 'But why did Gumi told me that? I mean... It's something I've forgotten and it really had nothing to do with her, besides, Len doesn't even...'

Len. Now she had to admit it, she missed her brother really badly. But what could she do? Do some resurrection? Who did she think she was, a paranormal? No!

She rolled and gripped the pillow again, 'But now think about it. He's my brother, the one who used to be with me, do things with me... But I shouldn't cry anymore, I can't dwell on the past and now it isn't as lonely as that time. Teto's here, Miki's here as well, and Gumi, she never leaves even though she had moved away for a long time, and Len...

Len, the boy who she loves, enough to replace her brother. Not only her brother, he had already replaced all the gapes in her life that was supposed to be filled by her parents, who wasn't there anymore.

Her brother, replaced that winged-boy who happen to had the ability to use magic?

Rin widened her eyes, 'When Gumi talked about him earlier, she said as if those two are the same person...'

Her dead brother and the boy who 'appeared' in her house?

'Ah, let's forget it for the time being...'

"It's okay, it's not your fault nor anyone's fault -Rin"

* * *

Chapter 39

* * *

Sending the message somehow lifted a weight that had been weighted her chest for a moment there.

The weight might had been lifted, but her unrealized hunger was still there, getting worse by every second. She grunted as she got up from her bed and walked out from her room without turning the light on-saving the energy.

She happened to pass the bathroom, so she decided to spend some minutes in there, tidying her knotted up hair and wash her face.

She looked into her mirror. Just like what she had expected-her eyes were swollen and her hair all tangled up in knots. She sighed after looking at the pathetic self of her, and then she began to untangle the knots only by using her hand. But soon she got irritated by the never-ending untangling activity, she decided to leave it as it was and go wash her face.

Then she walked out from the bathroom, and got greeted by the sound of television.

'Now what time is it...' She thought and she took a look at the clock on the wall.

11:49 pm, almost midnight.

'And Len's still up? The odds.' She thought as she continued her way to the kitchen.

It was too impossible for her to cook something, so eating fruit should be the best choice. Len must kept bananas somewhere...

But then she spotted a bowl of food sitting on the table. A paper lied near it.

"I know you don't want to see me, but you have to keep on living. The dinner." At the end of the note, there was an arrow, pointing right to the bowl.

Rin smiled. Len always cared for her, no matter what.

Maybe she loved him because of that.

She scarfed the food like she hadn't eaten anything for the past 6 months and finished it in a simple 5 minutes.

Now her stomach was already pleased, she had to say thank you to him.

Even though she didn't really want to see him. But nothing's better than talking in person, using communication devices such as phone still got beaten by talking in person.

So, to be safe, she sneaked to the living room, trying her best not to make any sound, then she peeked into the room.

"Erm, Len?" She said, trying to keep her voice down (she knew that he wouldn't hear her anyway, at least she had said it), "Thank you for the meal..."

She had said that, but from her angle, she couldn't see the person who she was talking to.

"Huh?" Then she walked closer to the sofa and she peeked...

And she saw him there, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed. It seemed like he was sleeping already. But the TV was still on, and Rin spotted a book on the floor. From what she thought, he was reading the book, but fell asleep. And the TV? Not to mention that pencil and music sheet were on the table.

'...I don't understand what he was doing but...' She thought, then she looked at his sleeping face...

Which was cute.

Rin could feel her face reddened. Then she shook her head to make it gone (although it didn't really matter). She walked away to take a blanket-didn't he feel cold sleeping just like that in the living room? She thought sweater alone wouldn't make him warm (because he was wearing one).

She covered him with the blanket-there was another way, ask him to get back to his room. But Rin, waking up the sleeping Len in the middle of the night? Impossible, he wouldn't wake.

She bid him a simple goodnight, and a thank you before getting back to her room.

"Thank you for the meal... And good night."

* * *

"Um, Rin..." Len began, "You forgot to bring your lunch..." Then he handed her the lunch box he had been holding.

Rin took the lunchbox hesitantly, "Um... Thank you, Len-kun..."

The two of them chose to stand still on their position on the school's corridor, completely ignoring some eyes that actually landed on them. They continued to engulf theirselves in an awkward silence.

Rin made the first movement by suddenly turning her body and said, "I-I have to go, bye." And with that, she disappeared from the scene, running to the class-her desk in the class to be more accurate-as fast as possible.

Right after the class appeared in her view, she rushed up a bit faster and almost slammed (harsh-sliding, yes) the door open. She walked to her seat, putting the meal harshly near her bag that was unknowingly on the floor before clutching her hair in depression.

"I can't."

* * *

Rin looked like she just had been abducted by some aliens in the previous night for the rest of the day. Attention for the lessons was left unpaid, and calls entered her ears as if they were nothing.

Outside, any word might not came out from her mouth. But inside, she was screaming hysterically. Confusion, confusion, and confusion were the only thing in her head.

Strangely, problems that usually could be told to her friends got kept inside her. Not wanting to let the other knows (even Teto or Gumi), she made herself drown to the sea of problem.

Trouble.

'That's why I never like troubles.' She thought, contrasting the truth that she had been a trouble seeker for a long time.

When the bell rang, she lifted herself from her seat and walked away from the class, getting out from the school and walked home without bothering to see her friends or make a conversation with anyone.

Wrap herself with the blanket, curling up in a ball until she fell asleep and forget her 'problem' was a nice thing to do after she got home...

* * *

Since that time when Rin ran away after getting her lunch, Len watched her every move. The poor, troubled Rin didn't even notice it that he was watching.

He saw that even Teto and Gumi didn't try to talk to Rin, maybe they had known that Rin wouldn't answer them since the teacher got completely ignored (including that time when the teacher checked their attendance. She didn't raise her hand-it was him who raised his hand and pointed to Rin to tell the teacher that Rin was there). Knowing that, he didn't try to talk to her as well.

He didn't know what her main problem was, but he knew, she remembered him. Not a really good thing.

Too focusing on keeping his eyes on Rin, the school-end bell just rang loudly. He was not expecting the day to end that fast.

Hearing the bell, Rin stood up quickly from her seat and left the room without any word. From that point, he could no longer watch her-she would go straight home and he had to work (to work or to face the wrath of Meiko on the other day). Nothing else to do at the school, he decided to go straight to the cafe.

'But how if she gets hungry and have nothing to eat? Yesterday night I ate her oranges...'

The convenience store after working, yes.

* * *

She did what she had thought before, curling up in a ball on her bed, in her room. Doing practically nothing beside that, waiting for the morning to come and then she went to school... Again.

She just had to remember to bring her meal, just that.

But seems like her 'doing nothing alone' moment was interrupted when someone knocked her door. The person called her name afterwards, "Rin? Are you in there?"

She easily ignored the call and wrapped the blanket tighter to block the reality that someone was standing in front of her room.

She thought 5 minutes had passed from his attempt to call her. She peeked out from her 'ball' to see her dark room, thinking it was save to sneak out and find something to eat since she hadn't had anything for dinner. So thinking it was a great chance, she got up and went to the door.

Being too cautious, she pressed her ear on the door before getting out, just to make sure-again-that no one was there.

And right there, suddenly a voice came from the other side of the door. She immediately pulled her ear away from the door, but the voice was clear enough for her to hear.

"Rin, dinner's ready. Eat it if you want-I've prepared it on the dining table."

With a heavy sigh, she dragged her feet outside, thinking she really had to get out from her room. Her stomach also had screamed for food.

Even though she had to face Len in order to get that heavenly food.

* * *

She wasn't mad, she wasn't angry to him either. She was just simply confused. No matter how hard she tried to stay normal, when she saw his face... Everything just turned awkward.

As she thought of that, it was occurring. There she was on the dining table, sitting face-to-face with Len while eating her food silently.

She wished that she could eat a bit faster, so she could leave the table a bit faster. The truth wasn't like that, though she managed to eat her food faster than usual.

"Thank you for the food." She said immediately after her plate was clean from food. She was about to stand up from the chair when he suddenly called up to her.

"Wait!"

She stopped her action and looked at Len. "Yeah, what do you want?" She asked, not intending it to be harsh but it came out like that.

He released a big sigh, "I want to ask something."

She sat back on the chair, somehow that seat got more uncomfortable than before...

Maybe because she knew that he would probably ask about 'Len'? She meant... What else? She was caught visiting him the day before.

"You remember." He said it as a statement instead of a question.

"I do." She simply said, and added, "To the details on how did I know about his death, my feeling at that moment, and his voice, his face that looks like yours." Although she said it pretty sternly, she couldn't believe what she had said.

She wasn't supposed to tell it to him.

Then after she finished saying that, she looked down to whatever was there, feeling his deep stare at her.

"Rin, actually I—"

"Not a word, Len-kun." Rin interrupted, "Now many things are bugging me, don't be one of them. Besides... Len is dead anyway, so why don't you just go away from my life?"

Lies.

She didn't want him to go away from her life.

But she knew what she had done wrong.

She was seriously a messed up girl who had a supposed to be a wrong feeling towards her brother, who was in this case, dead. Maybe with him being gone from her life, that feeling could be erased from her...

She bit her lower lip, feeling nervous out of sudden. What would he say?

"And why do you want me to go away?" He asked slowly at last. "Am I a burden for you?"

Right, she didn't have any reason to 'ask' him to go away. And she had no right to do that because...

He was practically her brother.

"It's... It's not because of that!" She quickly said, "I-I mean, you had..."

"Died? Because of that?" He added simply, though his voice sounded a bit sad. "...I know I'm not supposed to be here. But if you ask me to 'go away', then I refuse."

Rin just nodded without looking up. Then after the word had finally got registered in her head, she snapped her head up. "W-what? Why?"

"...no reason." He said while looking away. "I just... I like being here with you, Rin."

"Actually I like being here with you as well..." Rin said, contrasting her previous action of telling him to go away, "...I never want you to go away. I-I guess my mind was just messed up, didn't mean to say it, sorry... I just _don't want _it if our... Our daily life together changed after I know you're... You _were_ my brother. So... Um, sorry..." Then she looked down again, face red from embarrassment.

"Anyway, you had know this before I do, right? And you didn't tell me?" She continued. "Since when you remember that you're... _Him_?"

"Ah, from 'that time'..." He said carelessly without looking at her—not even to a single strand of her hair. "When I visited the grave, and I met Gumi there. Then she told her story and..."

"Oh, so she was the one who made you remember?" Rin asked.

"Practically yes, but I remembered it by myself." Len answered.

Rin cringed, "_Remembering_ it by yourself? Means you remember how that feels?"

Len just smiled and changed the topic, "Ah, about daily life. We had been acting as a real brother and sister for a long time... I don't think anything will change, so don't worry about that..."

Rin giggled, "Now look who's sounding like an older brother!"

Seeing Rin giggling so joyfully, Len smiled, "...is that a wrong thing to say?"

"No, not at all, it just doesn't sound like you..." Rin then reached Len's head and start patting him, "Still the innocent Len, I see~"

But though Rin was smiling, she was worried inside however, she thought hiding it was the best choice so Len wouldn't get worried.

'Something will change, though you won't notice it anyway... I can't love you the way I do before...'


	40. Chapter 40: Sing

"...I don't bring my lunch..."

Teto looked up from her meal, "Eh, seriously? How did you forgot anyway?"

Rin sighed, "I don't know... My mind is just messed up, I forgot to bring the lunch yesterday as well..."

"Though you ate lunch yesterday? I kind of saw you sitting alone on your desk, actually we want to ask you to eat with us but Gumi said we shouldn't..." Teto explained, "She's very understanding... As expected from a very best friend... I wonder how you can _still_ be friends until now."

"Ehehe, I have no idea by myself, but I'm glad we're still friends until now~" Rin said, "And lunch, yesterday Len 'delivered' the lunch for me, but today he forgot to make it..."

"Let's forget that, you can eat together with me." Teto said, she pushed her lunch closer to Rin.

"No no, no need to..." Rin said, declining the offer, "I'll feel bad doing that anyway..."

"Well then, okay..." Teto said and pulled the food back, "Anyway, what's wrong with you yesterday? You looked awfully troubled."

Rin laughed, "Troubled, heheh... No, I was just having some... Trouble."

Teto stared at her and blinked, "What's the difference?"

"It sounds just different." Rin said shortly though it didn't really explain anything.

Teto continued eating while Rin looked around the class. Only few people ate in the class—probably they prefer going out and eat somewhere else, other than the boring classroom. Gumi was also out, Rin had no idea where she was.

And finally the time for Rin to feel hungry came. She stopped looking around and her eyes landed somewhere... Teto's lunch.

It took about a minute for Teto to realize that Rin was looking at her lunch hungrily. Still chewing her food, she sighed, "I've said that if you want to eat my lunch, just take it..."

Rin grinned, "Well, thanks!" Then she picked up something from the lunchbox, not bothering to use chopsticks at all, and plopped it into her mouth.

Not so long after that, a group of boys entered the class, some were from the other classes.

"Eh, they've come already? Means lunchtime's almost over..." Teto said more to herself and was going to close the lunchbox when Rin stopped her.

"Let me eat the rest!" She said.

Teto gave the lunchbox to the hungry girl and let her eat the rest of her lunch. She scarfed all in a single minute. 'Starving much, Rin-chan?'

"Thank you Teto-chan!" Rin exclaimed happily and gave the lunchbox back.

"You're welcome~" Teto replied as she put the lunchbox back into her bag.

"You really saved my life! If you didn't give your lunch I might be dead later..." Rin continued.

"...to put it, you were actually really hungry eh, Rin-chan..." Teto mumbled.

Rin just laughed lightly—Rin-laughing day, she must be in a good mood—at the same time when Len happened to pass by their seat (Teto's seat, actually) with some other boys, including that white or silver haired boy. Rin then accused her finger to her brother, "Here's the culprit!"

Len, not knowing what was being talked about, asked in exchange, "Eh, what?" And accidentally snapped the stick-biscuit coated with chocolate cream he was holding, the other end on his mouth already.

"He didn't make a lunch for me!" Rin said, calmed down a bit when she saw something in his hand. Something like a box and—

"Give me! Give me the Pocky! I'm starving because of you!" Rin suddenly yelled, loud enough to make the students in the class look at her way and for Teto to jump from her seat, startled.

There wasn't any noise anymore, but the tension in the class—especially near Teto's desk—stayed that way.

Staring at Rin with a confused look, Len gave her the package of Pocky and of course, the Pocky inside the packaging, "...here."

* * *

Chapter 40

* * *

Rin decided to wait for Len to finish his part-time job because she wanted to walk home with him. It had been a long time since they did that for the last time, and that was before that first 'problem' between the two of them. She missed that time when... When what? She and Len practically do nothing but walking home at that time. No talking at all.

Len just used to be a very silent person.

"You've changed, Len." Rin said, breaking the silence between the two of them while walking home.

Rin had expected for Len to take a moment before giving a response to her statement, "What had changed?"

"You." She repeated, "When I saw you in my house for the first time, and about a month or more after that, you were really... You know, silent. You talk and open up more lately. I'm... Just glad."

"Oh, I didn't notice that..." He said shortly. "And that's a good thing?"

"Eh, that's a question?" Rin asked, and Len nodded after that, "Well, for me it's good, of course!" Rin thought, maybe because he had remembered some of his past. A person who knows nothing tends to be silent, right? At least in her opinion.

She didn't notice it before, but her saying that made the two of them remembered something that needed to be solved.

Rin then asked, "Are you still wondering about... Everything?"

"To be honest, I want to know the purpose of me being here, or what made me end up here but... I just can't remember. And I think I should stop trying to figure that out..."

"Eh, why?"

"I don't know, does it matter now?"

Rin smiled, "No. I'm glad you're here, no need to know how did you get here. Doesn't change the fact I'm pissed off because you didn't make a lunch for me. That sounds selfish, sorry. But I might end up dead—the worst possibility—if I tried to cook."

"...you didn't wake me up." Len said, defending himself.

"Waking up early isn't that hard, actually..."

Len sighed in defeat, "Okay, it's my fault... Sorry."

"But don't you think this is my fault for not being able to cook?" Rin suddenly said, causing a confusion in the boy's head.

"..."

"..."

"...sorry, I can't understand that..."

"So, in change of you leaving me starving earlier, let me ask something to you!" Rin said.

"Eh, what is it?"

"I want to hear your singing voice, of course?"

That word worked like a brake for Len, he stopped walking as that word reached his ears, got processed and finally registered in his brain. A nervous, frozen-looking smile appeared on his face as he thought, 'Anything but that...'

"...I refuse."

"Oh come on, Len!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Meanie! For me, just once!"

"I-I can't sing, Rin!"

* * *

"So, you said you can't sing, hm?" Rin said as she flipped through the pages of the 'music book', skimming the title and the lyrics scribbled lazily under the notes as well. The two of them was already sitting in front of the piano, with Rin using the keys as a 'table' where books and papers were stacked on top of it, and Len sitting at the opposite direction, not wanting to face the piano. "Have you tried before?"

"N... Never did it before..." Len said, though it was obvious from his voice that he was hiding something.

Rin raised one of her eyebrow, "Are you sure? If you never sang before, I can teach you of course." She flipped the page again, "Though I don't get the meaning of you writing lyrics in these when you don't sing it... Hey, '14'. Nice title." She said and commented randomly.

"I lied, Rin." Len blurted out, "I've tried to, but it just didn't... Sound _right_."

"Though there's nothing wrong with a 'voice'?" Rin asked and titled her head to one direction, trying to figure out how that song (the one she was currently looked) supposed to sound. After getting the melody with the help of the piano, she started to sing, "I sang, I sang your song..."

"Hey, nice. And somehow the lyrics matches the situation, I sang your song." Rin said after trying to sing the line. "Maybe you can try singing this..."

"No." Len replied faster than necessary.

Rin looked at her brother with an annoyed look, "It's just singing, what's so hard about it? And it's just me, no one's listening."

"Still no."

Rin sighed in defeat, there was no way to make him sing... Was it? 'But I want to sing... I'm just going to sing it by myself then...'

She put the book and put her hands on the keys, ready to play the song on the piano.

"I tried to find the meaning of my birth inside thousands of songs," She sang while playing the piano, then she paused.

Not used to play the piano while singing, she found doing that was annoyingly hard.

"Here, let me play the piano for you." He offered and turned towards the piano.

"Well, that would be nice, thanks~" She said.

Rin resumed her singing, now with Len accompanying her with the piano. Though the song was the same, it sounded different in Rin's ears. Maybe it was because Len was playing it...?

While enjoying the nice-sounding melody from the the piano, she kept on singing, "The endless memories wander around the night..."

"The one time flows endlessly," Another voice took place, and Rin, of course, stopped singing immediately when she heard that 'voice'. She did wonder, but only in a very short period until she fully realized what was happening at that time.

Len was singing.

She turned her head to him, watching him as he sang. First, she was amazed that he actually could sing. Second, he was playing while singing—not a big deal for some people, but for Rin who was unable to do that, it was a great thing.

Third, his voice. It was melodious, rich but soft and relaxing. A kind of voice Rin had never heard before. And she knew it, she had also fallen in love with _his voice_.

She continued to enjoy the moment, hearing melodies flowing through the air, echoing inside the room.

That moment ended soon, though. All caused by the lyrics of the song.

"I sang..."

Rin knew the continuation was 'I sang your song', but those words just didn't came out from Len's mouth. He didn't even said a word after he sang that part. He also stopped playing. Instead, he looked at Rin with a look of horror.

Rin was smiling widely—she couldn't help it, hearing Len's wonderful voice made her smile like crazy, feeling both happy and satisfied... Because Len had actually sang, and she heard it.

He quickly hit the keys harshly using his fists, then lowered his head, "I-I got carried away..." Then he took a glance at Rin before looking away again in embarrassment, "It's... It's bad, I know, don't say _anything_ else."

Rin quickly disagreed with him, "A-actually I like your singing voice... It's..." She paused, "...it's beyond great, it's perfect. Yeah. Perfect."

"Though nobody's perfect?"

"Whatever, I would even say I love your singing voice, it's too good... Oh my, Len! You can actually sing, better than me at that point!"

"Thank you for the compliment but I think your singing voice is better, Rin." Len said. "Do you really think my singing voice isn't... _Strange_?"

"Not at all!" Rin said, "Then try this one, Hakobako Player!" She pointed at the title of a random song she just picked up.

"Wasn't one enough?"

"Not enough after I find out your voice is good!"

"..."

"..."

"...ah."

"What's 'ah'? Sing this~" Rin said while pouting.

"But..."

"No buts! Your voice is good, no need to be scared or feel uncomfortable of singing in front of your sister, it's _just_ in front of your sister!"

Len stared at her with a 'I-don't-want-to-do-it' look. Rin, being vulnerable of Len's pleading, _cute_ face was going to let it pass, but she regained composure of herself so she wouldn't be affected by Len's cuteness anymore.

She doubted it would last long, and it did not last long for real.

"Maybe I'm going to take the start, then you continue it..." She said and sighed.

* * *

"I'd rather stay dry, this lonely little box cannot get away." Rin finished her part, waiting for Len to sing.

That moment didn't come.

"Len~ Continue!" She said, half-yelling at the boy who was having fun playing the piano _without_ singing.

"How am I supposed to continue?"

"By singing, gah!"

He stared at Rin before giving up, "Okay, fine."

"Sun is climbing high, rain has gone away, in this city there's a brand new day..." He sang a bit forcefully, unlike the previous one where he really 'sang'.

"Len..." Rin muttered under her breath. "You can do that better, right?"

After some moment of Len-singing and Rin-complaining while singing, the song came to the end where both of them sang, "Yes there was a time where even I felt that before,"

"Nice!" Rin said right after the song ended, "And you can put feelings in it at last!"

"...wasn't it because you forced me to sing...?"

"Yep, I did." Rin said innocently, she was skimming the pages again, "Now choose a song and sing that. With that way, I won't be forcing you."

Len gave her a weird look, thinking of something before smiling, "Okay, okay..." And he started to flip the pages of his books, full of notes.

And Rin was gaping, 'What's with the sudden change?'

"So I just have to sing, right?" He asked, "Then I'll do it."

"Our joined hands are growing cold," He started, "Washed over by surging water..."

Rin peeked at the book and caught the letters of the title, 'Ame wo Tsureyuku, isn't it?'

She continued to sit there, her ears listening to the music and enjoyed it from her heart.

Len glanced at Rin without her noticing him, but he could saw she was smiling as she closed her eyes and listened to the song.

'This is what I can do to make her happy... Right?'

* * *

"Hey, let's sing that song again... Together." Rin said as Len finished that another song.

"Which one...?" Len asked. Just hearing that had made Rin felt happy that finally Len wanted to sing.

"14, we haven't sung it until the end, right?"

"Ah, you're right..."

So they both sang, letting out their voice and pouring feelings into the song. Singing until the end comes.

"I sang, I sang your song..."

'I'm glad... She's happy with this... It's okay if this moment doesn't end, it's okay even though I have to sing forever...'

"I sang a song, I sang your song..."

'It nice to sing together, with him. Just be with him already makes me happy... Please don't let the song end, don't let the music end...'

As the song came to the end, both of them looked at each other. Look of happiness, mixed with concern were on their faces.

'Does this really have to end?'

* * *

Omake

* * *

"Let's see..." Rin raised the music book up using both of her hands, a smile was on her face, "What's the meaning behind this..."

Len looked his sister with a clueless face, "...what meaning?"

"Heh?" Rin questioned him back, "Didn't you arrange the pages of the book so the first letters of the songs make a sentence?"

"I did, but..."

Len got completely ignored, Rin was already engulfed in thought while looking at the song titles, trying to 'solve the case', "Hm, it's 'a', 'ha', and 'ju'... Hajua? Juha-a? That sounds strange... Or maybe you take the 'ji' instead of 'ju'? Ahaji?"

"...Rin, it doesn't have a meaning..."

"No, something must be behind this!"

"Uh, Rin... It really has no meaning..."

"No! It has!"

* * *

~~Rin-Len moment, there. I don't know their relationship is a brother-sister relationship or not... Friendship? Or... **No, I don't like (tw)incest, but don't ask why I make this story like ****this.** *shot* The chapter title is... I think 'to sing' is better but I'm sticking to one-word chapter title.

Disclaimer for the songs since I don't own them~ Of course.

14 belongs to ナタP, Hakobako Player belongs to アゴアニキP, and Ame wo Tsureyuku belongs to 秦野P (lyrics by 裏花火), my favorite songs anyway. You should know these songs by now since... None of them is new... Ahaha~

Len's 'soft' voice, long ago before the append got released, it's... Erm. I thought: "Len? Soft? You gotta be kidding..." I just couldn't imagine it... And the demo of Kagamine Append uploaded, I still think that a 'soft' (serious) Len is strange (sorry). But I'm somehow amazed that my favorite P can make Len's voice... Soft, even without the append...

Do you think Len's voice in 14 sounds soft?

And Rin singing 14? Rin has her own version (by the same person, who also self-covers his songs a lot)... Though you have to buy it, and I never hear it either (laugh). But she sings on the same key as Len... Low for her?

Blabbing much? Sorry.

And... People are still reading... Though there's no review for the previous chapter (I don't have the right to force people to review, anyway), people're still reading...

Sankyuu!

Though no one will read the author note, at least I've said that -_-


	41. Chapter 41: Decision

~~It's 3/9! Happy Miku day everyone! Anyone's watching the concert? Because I don't, of course.

There, finally I update this story *cries in joy* My brain wasn't very cooperative with me (?), this time's reason for not updating for a long time is, not school, but **I was out of idea**. So, I ended up forcing my brain to 'work', because actually I got reviews... I feel bad...

So, replies! For both Emanon-san and Happiness Sunshine and Gum-san: Did you really read the long, useless note that has nothing to do with the story? Ahaha~ Thanks for letting me know, then!

Thank you for everyone who's still reading this story! It's the 'sankyuu' (39) day anyway~ Ahaha... Yes, I waited until it's 3/9 in this site, because my timezone is far-away from that... Okay, I know, to the story.

* * *

"Okay! Raise and shine, my dear brother! A new day is waiting ahead!" A high-pitched girl's voice rang loudly, followed by a sound of door being slammed violently.

"Rin, low down your voice a bit… I want to sleep…" was the reply she got.

Rin pouted and looked away while crossing her arms, "Len! You've promised to go somewhere with me this weekend. So wake up and get ready!"

At first, the girl who already had a large white bow on top of her head thought he ignored her, because there was no reply at all. But then he spoke, "What time is it?"  
With an innocent look and sweet voice, she answered, "Six in the morning. What's wrong?"

Instantly, Len pulled the blanket up and covered his head while mumbling something Rin couldn't hear clearly—in fact, it didn't even sound like a language she know.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Rin climbed the bed and shouted, "Len! Look this way—I'm going to jump and land on you! One, two—"

Though Len had thrown the blanket away, it was too late. When he snapped his eyes open, Rin had already on the air and then crashing down to him…

* * *

Chapter 41

* * *

"An… Arcade?"

Rin nodded, her red-colored bow that replaced the usual white bow (to match the rest of her attire that was red-themed) bounced along with her head. "Yes, an arcade. Have you ever heard it before?" Thinking that Len would say 'no', Rin decided to continue speaking, "It's a place full of games, people pay for playing and there!"

"And why are we going to the arcade…?"

Rin began to think that her brother is beyond clueless—or maybe he wasn't even fully awake? She started to feel guilty for waking him up so… _Mean_. But she answered him right away, "Having fun, of course. I don't think sleeping all day long is considered to be fun—" She cut herself off to take a look of her brother once again.

Luckily, he didn't retort back saying 'sleeping is better than going out from the house'.

"Don't you want to have fun in the weekend?" She continued, thinking it was 'safe', "And I think you'll get along with games since… I don't know, just my thought."

"Do you visit the arcade often?" He asked.

"Eh, me? Not really, I usually don't have anyone to go with. Teto will prefer shopping."

"Oh…"

"That's why!" She circled her arm around his neck, _almost_ strangling him. "I thought it will be good if I go with you."

Then she released her strangle, and grabbed his hand. She stopped walking after that, making Len stopped as well.

"Rin? What's wrong?"

"Let's go." She said with a weird smile formed on her lips. "Get ready, set…"

"Are we going to run?"

Without even replying him, she announced loudly, "And here we go!"

* * *

Rin said before, going together at the weekend was going to be fun. But it was a half-torture for Len.

First, Rin had **jumped** on him. And second, on the way to the arcade, she **dragged** him along with her while **running**.

He ended up panting like crazy in front of the arcade. Sure, stares were directed to him, and those passerbies must be thinking of what had happened to the poor boy who was out of breath.

Now to think of it, why did he have to breathe when he wasn't even alive?

Rin almost stepped her foot into the arcade, but Len grabbed her hand, preventing her from going any further.

"Let me catch my breath first." He said between pants.

She just put her index finger on her lips innocently, like she hadn't done anything at all to him. "You're really not the athletic type."

"…not that, you're the one who is too energetic." He offended.

Rin giggled, "Kagamine-sama retorts back at my statement~"

He stared at her for a moment, then said in an unusually low voice, "Don't call me that."

"I know you don't like it. Perhaps to annoy you a bit?" She said. "Now, shall we enter the arcade?"

"Sure."

"Okay, again, here we come." She said under her breath and entered the arcade with him.

Weekends, she had expected the arcade to be crowdier than usual. Of course, schoolers went to the arcade to chill their heads from the school lessons.

But crowded or not, it's normal for an arcade to be noisy. Different sounding sounds came out from each machine, blended into one, and you get loud noise.

Meanwhile, Len just stared around the place that was new for him.

'_This place is annoyingly noisy, you would think._' The voice came out from nowhere (no, actually he was always there).

'…I don't need your opinion.' Len replied.

The voice laughed and then faded into nothing, right when Rin pulled his hand to a certain machine.

"Len! Let's try this!"

Looking at the enthusiasm of his sister, Len smiled. "Okay."

* * *

"Argh! You're _surprisingly_ good at this…" Rin muttered as she looked—no, glared—at the game screen that was currently showing the result of their game. "Rematch!"

Rin requested to have a battle with Len against each other in a multiplayer rhythm game, but she lost in every single round.

Without even looking on the screen, Rin picked up a random song and pressed select hastily.

As the gameplay started, Rin continued to send a glare to the innocent screen. Her hands started to press the buttons along with the song.

But Len, instead of playing like before, was now looking at Rin who had that determined look on her serious face, causing misses on his game and eventually he lost.

"Len, why did you stop?" Rin asked after she saw her winning screen.

"O-oh, sorry. I was… Looking at something." He said, not lying but not telling the truth either. "Besides, you seem to be eager to win the game."

Rin pouted, "That doesn't mean you can make it lost in purpose. I want a real victory, by my own ability."

Len knew it, Rin wasn't a person who will just give up because a single fail. And she will try until she gets what she wants.

Somehow, he just got the whole concept about the trouble seeker matter…

"But Rin, it's just a game…"

"I don't care, rematch!"

* * *

After Rin managed to defeat Len (somehow), they decided to try some other games since they had received glares from people who were waiting to play the game—both of didn't want to play the rhythm game anymore since Rin had defeated Len, after all—and finally they exited the arcade and went for some drink.

They were sitting facing each other in a small cafe. Their seat was located next to the glass window, so the street could be seen from there.

Rin was having fun looking pedestrians walking to different directions, her orange smoothie being drank at the same time.

"Hey Len, thank you for today." She said suddenly, and silently.

Len looked up from the notebook he was writing on and gave Rin a confused look. "For what?"

"For spending your time with me, of course." A smile appeared on her face. "That was fun. And actually I can beat you! But I really, really didn't think you will be that good in playing rhythm games."

"Eh?" He tilted his head. "I assume you must have played the game for a longer time?"

"Right, years ago! Not so often, though." Rin said with her cheek puffed at the beginning. "But, to think that you're beaten by your younger brother who just tried to play the game!"

Len laughed, "Younger… Just a few minutes, Rin. But still, you have lived for a longer time than me. I'm not living anymore, after all."

Like losing her enthusiasm, Rin just replied silently. "Ah, you're right about it. Well, it has nothing to do with playing games."

"But, if that's so," now it was Len's turn to look outside, "I'm the one who is supposed to thank you for taking me out from… The house."

"So, both of us have the same opinion about this." Rin said with a slight laugh. "Because we don't go out together that much lately. Actually it's going to be nice if we could do this often, having fun together, with each other."

Len's expression changed after she said that, and she noticed it.

"Actually, Rin." He began, sounding a bit depressed. "I—"

"You need to go later, I know." Rin said with a sad smile. "From the beginning, it was impossible for you to be here after all."

Actually, Len really didn't want to tell Rin this. It was just going to make the whole thing became worse.

But he couldn't stay silent as well, he needed to tell her, eventually.

With his head slightly lowered, he _corrected_ her. "No, actually… _Sooner_. I have to go sooner."

Rin widened her eyes as she looked at him. "…Len, are you serious?"

"Actually, I'm hoping that I'm not."

With that, every excitement about being with her dearest person gone from Rin.

But she didn't say anything. Instead, she just smiled, ignoring the pain in her chest.

* * *

Having problem made Rin lost her orange-appetite for that moment. Usually she would scarf it completely, leaving only the peels everytime she ate the orange she just bought. But not this time, the oranges they bought along with the other groceries before were left uneaten in the kitchen.

It was okay for her if the orange is gone in the next morning. Lucky for Len that she didn't really like bananas, or it was going to be the other way around.

Not that she cared about it at that moment.

But thinking alone was like walking in circle, she wouldn't get anywhere. So she decided to call her friend, the only person who knew that she, Kagamine Rin, was in love with her _dead_ brother, Kagamine Len.

Nakajima Gumi.

"Never thought… It will be like this."

"Well, no one thought it will be like that, because we can't predict the future." The voice from the other line said.

Rolling on her bed, Rin replied to Gumi. "At least, if it's really going to end like this, it's not supposed to be really messed up like this." She continued. "If I don't have this messed up, sick, forbidden feelings towards him, it won't be like this."

"Can you avoid love?" Gumi asked, her voice stern.

Rin thought for a moment before coming up with an answer. "No…"

"Can you stop loving him?"

"No…!" Rin replied, half-yelling to the phone. "I don't want to. Even though it's considered to be forbidden. I can't, and I don't want to."

"I don't want him to go away from me." Rin continued, and ended it with a heavy sigh.

Somehow, Rin could feel that Gumi was smiling on the other line. "It's hard, isn't it? But, which one do you prefer?"

"Between what?"

"Between him, or you. To let him go, or to 'keep him' for yourself."

"That's…" She trailed off. Maybe wanting to have him around was her selfishness. "Of course I don't want to be with him just for my own happiness, but is that what love really is? Wanting to have that person always by your side?"

"It depends, Rin. Maybe for some people, it is. I personally don't think so. It's really up to yourself."

With her phone still being held to her ear, Rin stared blankly around her dark room, while not giving Gumi any replies.

"Now, I can tell you know what your choice is." Gumi said. "

There was a pause, until Rin talked back to Gumi. "Y-yeah, with that everything's settled. Thank you for sparing your free time to have a talk with me…"

"No problem Rin." Gumi said with a slight laugh. "Anything for you." And she hung up.

Rin placed her phone down with a sigh. 'If he stays, I'll be happy. But what about him? Will he feel the same…?' She thought. 'If he feels unhappy, then am I supposed to feel happy when he isn't?'

"And after all, with me wanting him to be here—he doesn't have to be with me, as long as _he is here_, it's like trying to escape from the truth… That the dead is dead."

* * *

"It's unusual for you to come here this late…" Len said as he patted the empty space next to him, motioning Rin to sit. "I thought you were asleep."

"I-it should be the other way around! Who's the sleepyhead here?" Rin said with a pout on her face, then she continued much calmer, "I need to _confirm_ something."

She took a seat next to him, on the wide piano seat and pressed some random notes. "You said you need to go _sooner_."

With a look of concern, Len replied, "…you don't seem to like the idea, Rin. And if that's true, I don't want to leave you, either. I will feel bad for ma—"

"No, not that." Rin said with her hand being waved. "Actually, I want to say that… It's okay if you want to go. I'm okay with that."

After she said that, she felt strange. Like, not believing what she had said.

Closing her eyes, she thought. 'I've said it. What's his reaction will be?' But the awaited reply didn't come.

Want it or not, Rin opened her eyes. And she saw Len, looking straight ahead with a blank, yet stern look. And after she took an even better look, he somehow looked… Sad.

"So-sorry. I'm just… Not expecting you to say that." He said after that, his head resting on his hand. "It's just…"

"Just what?" Rin asked, guilt starting to eat her up. She should've found a better way to say it, not bluntly like that!

"Never mind…"

"If you say so…" Rin mumbled. "But humans won't live forever, anyway."

"…what do you mean by that?"

"That?" Rin asked with a slightly playful voice. "If you go back… We'll meet again after I die, right?"

* * *

~~Next is... Another drabble collection, I think. If anyone has any ideas... Just tell me. Gah, something's definitely wrong with me, I can't think of anything for the drabbles. No, I mean—**please** give me ideas! I'm begging you all... You know, with my current block, I may update, like, a month (or more) after this one...

Okay, for anyone who read this (story), thank you! I know you're there, reviewing or not. That's why...


	42. Chapter 42: Fourth

~~It has been over 2 months... I don't care, I felt unloved T^T But as long as someone's still reading... I'll continue until the end. Thank you, thank you.

RPR-san! Thank you very much for the review! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The next chapter is half-done, even before this chapter was completed. It's supposed to be finished... faster. I hope.

Well, enjoy?

* * *

"Morning, Rin." Gumi greeted as she saw Rin on the way to the school.

"Oh, morning Gumi!" Rin replied happily.

Of course, Rin's happy reply made Gumi wondered. Yesterday night, she sounded really depressed when she called her. But in the next day, Rin was as happy as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Gumi smiled, "Seems like you've decided what you have to do concerning him…"

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. Rin turned to Gumi. Weird, she was still smiling like before although something was definitely different from before.

With a poke on Gumi's shoulder, Rin said. "Don't worry. After that, we'll meet each other again after I die."

* * *

Chapter 42

* * *

1. Because It's You

Of course, Gumi was shocked hearing that. She turned so she could face Rin and widened her eyes while saying. "Are you planning on killing yourself?"

"O-of course no, Gumi!" Rin said as she waved her hand as a no sign. "What makes you think like that?"

Gumi thought, everyone will think Rin would really do that… Because it's Rin. If something like that came out from Gumi's mouth, no one will believe her.

"Because… it's you."

* * *

2. Fixed

"We can't go to the rooftop?"

"Right, the railing is broken and... Without the railing, we can fall from the rooftop just like that..."

Gumi and Rin who were passing by heard the conversation by accident. "It sounds scary does it? Luckily no accident has been reported... We don't want to hear a news about someone falling from the top of the school, eh?"

Rin smiled happily, "But how if someone had fallen but survived?"

Being Gumi, she thought about Rin's words before giving a reply. Then she widened her eyes upon realization, "...You didn't mean..."

"I meant it." Rin still smiled. "Let's just say a fallen angel saved me~"

_Again_, if it wasn't Rin, Gumi wouldn't have believed it... Though she was still giving Rin that look of disbelief.

"Gumi, I'm not lying about this! You gotta believe me!" Rin pouted as she said that.

* * *

3. Story Time

It started when one random student in the class noticed the sky was dark, and decided to blurt out this: "Hey, since we're having a free time right now, why don't we have share some stories with each other? Something like scary stories?"

Some of the girls immediately made a small group and chatted loudly—everyone immediately knew that they didn't want to involve with scary things like that—but most of the class gathered into one big group and ready to share and listen to some scary stories.

Of course, Rin was in this group, and she was actually excited to hear something like this. She found that her brother's desk was nearer to where they gather, so she decided to sat on his desk (without his permission) and said, "Let's just start already!"

"Okay, since I'm the one who started this, then I'm going to tell a story." He said. "Though this might be boring—a typical story about a haunted place."

* * *

4. Footnote

"Since that time, anyone who has entered that place always found dead days after their visit. Their faces aren't happy—they look terrified. Maybe the spirit haunted them and killed them with an unpleasant way."

"That's horrible." Someone commented. Then the class broke into a small crowd—everyone started a 'little discussion' about the story before.

Rin turned to Len, asking him, "What do you think about that story?"

He looked back at her with a confused look. "Rin, what's a haunted place?"

Rin looked at him disbelievingly before explaining everything to him.

* * *

5. Behind the Innocent Face

"I heard it from somewhere, I don't remember." Yuki said with a face that didn't show any emotions. "Every class in the school has one extra student who isn't a human. All that person does is just watching the whole class from the back. But when that 'person' feels like doing it, he… or she can harm someone in the class."

"Yuki-chan… you can say it easily…" A girl commented. "I'm sitting at the back of the class right now!"

Yuki laughed innocently. "I don't really believe in something like that, that's why…"

"But seriously, Kaai. I thought you're a nice girl who wouldn't scare the whole class like this." Piko commented after he saw the faces of the students turned into a horror one.

She protested. "It's not my fault! Who started all of this?"

"Nah, we've agreed to tell and listen the story. So if anyone's feeling scared right now, it's the consequence." Gumi said calmly.

Piko raised one of his eyebrow. "You're not scared, Nakajima?"

"It's more to… that feeling of awareness rather than scared if 'someone' really does watch over us from the back of the class." Gumi said. "Doesn't it feel that way? Being watched by someone you can't see."

"As if being stalked… I agree with her." Yuki said.

"Stalked…" Gumi muttered. "Have you ever been stalked by someone before?"

Yuki stared at her before standing up from her desk and walked to Gumi's desk.

"Don't tell anyone, but I… used to have something like that."

"…Something?"

* * *

6. Victim

"Who's next?" Piko asked with an excited tone—this was getting more interesting for him, he couldn't wait for more story.

Maybe it wasn't his lucky day—no one wanted to tell anything.

With a disappointed face, he spoke to the whole class. "Aw, no one wants to say anything? Maybe the new students have something to tell—"

"Piko-kun, we're in the first grade. Technically everyone's 'new' here." Teto commented as she rolled her eyes.

He replied, "I mean, _newer_—maybe Nakajima has something to tell after all. Or maybe Len-kun wants to share something?"

"Okay, maybe I'm going to tell a short story." Gumi said immediately. "Once, I had a friend who was later, died in an accident. Then, years later I saw him again. He just didn't seem to change, and… he did what normal people do, as if he never died before."

The class fell into an eerie silence.

"A-are you sure it was really him? Or maybe he didn't die from the accident?" A girl asked, though she looked a bit scared.

"No, he really… died." Gumi stated. "And I'm 100% sure it was him—"

"Okay, Gumi." Len cut her midway, where she hadn't finished explaining. He was certain that she was talking about _him_, and he didn't feel 'right' about that. "Let's change the topic."

* * *

7. Reality

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Was the thing Gumi mouthed to him, before Piko asked him.

"What's wrong with that… Don't say that you're feeling scared." Piko asked with a playful look of satisfaction—like he had successfully made a 6-years old child feels scared.

"No." Len replied, a bit slow. "I mean—doesn't it feel uncomfortable to talk about it when the one she was talking about… is actually here, in this class?"

"Don't scare me even more." The girl from before said before burying her head with her arms on the table.

Rin looked at her while trying to hold her laughter. "Nice job you've done there, Len!" She said loudly as she patted Len's head, hard.

"Oh, so it wasn't true after all…" Yuki suddenly commented.

With a weird-looking face, Gumi looked at Yuki and spoke slowly. "But what he said is true…"

Another awkward-eerie silence.

* * *

8. Suspicions

"Someone in this class? Then who is it?" Teto suddenly joined the conversation as she jumped to an unoccupied desk. "Piko-kun, it's you, right?"

Piko gaped at her. "What makes you think it's me? I've never seen Nakajima before she transferred here!"

"Um, your different colored eyes somehow suggest it?" Teto asked with a sheepish smile.

He face-palmed hearing the statement Teto made. "That's unreasonable, Kasane."

"But somehow it makes sense, Piko-kun. For example, if I asked… anyone, they would say that you're the most suspicious one in this class." Yuki chimed with her innocent sounding voice. "And that thing! I wonder how that part of your hair manages to stand still like that. It's suspicious~" She added the 'creepy effect' to her voice at the end of her sentence.

Piko gave her a 'what' look as he reached his hair that stuck up with his hand. "This? What's wrong with this? Nothing's suspicious with this part! That Furukawa girl from the next class has something similar!"

Yuki gave him a blank look, not because he just snapped at him, but at something else. Something in her mind she had forgotten long time ago, but got reminded because of him.

She began to speak slowly in a lower voice. "Furukawa Miki? At first I thought she was a kind of alien or someone from the other planet because of that hair…"

"Wh-what crazy imagination do you have, Kaai?"

* * *

9. Fear

That evening right after the school ended, Rin pulled Len to walk home with her forcefully. Though he was protesting, she continued to pull him with her (literally), saying some lines like, "You won't be able to spend your time with your beloved sister later, so use this opportunity!"

Although he would gladly accept her offer, the fact that Meiko would make him wear the… girly maid uniform once he went back to the cafe made him didn't want to go straight to his house. At least he needed a made-up reason why he couldn't come.

But it was Meiko! Arguing with her is nothing easy. Not being pessimistic, but he thought he would end up wearing a frilly outfit again even though he had tried to argue with her.

"Len, what are you thinking about?" Rin's voice snapped him out from his thoughts. Then she looked down, like she was thinking. After that she looked back to him. "Uh, sorry… I forced you to walk with me when actually you have a part-time job."

That. He didn't want to let his sister down. Somehow he _had_ to do that for her. "No need to apologize, Rin! I think I'm the one who need to spend more time with you."

She smiled. "If you're thinking about your boss' girlfriend, Sakine-san who will make you wear the girly stuffs… You don't need to worry much about it, Len."

He smiled back at her. "Right, thank you, Rin. Are you reading my mind?"

"Of course I'm not—I can't, I'm not you, you know…" She said with a slight laugh. "Anyways, I haven't told you the reason why you don't have to worry about that, right?"

Because somehow she would prevent Meiko from doing that. It's Rin, after all. And she was the one who started all of this. But then, he thought that he hope too much from her. Would Rin win against the Sakine Meiko?

Her answer was unexpected, however. "Because those uniforms suit you, actually. I mean, you have the perfect, _cute_ face that matches them! To think about it, I feel very lucky having a brother like you, Len!"

That wasn't helping at all—it made everything worse.

* * *

10. Thank You

"I wish I never had forgotten you before." Rin said with her head slightly lowered. "I think, forgetting you just like that is just _cruel_. How could I forgot someone very important to me?"

"Things happened, though." Len commented in a small voice. "Rin, imagine how life would be in this present time if that accident never happened."

Rin smiled—not a happy smile, not a sad smile either. "You would be right beside me."

"But I'm here beside you." He said.

She tilted her head in confusion. "No, I mean, you wouldn't have to die, right?" She paused after that, thinking about something. Then she smiled happily, "Never mind, thank you for being here, right beside of me."

* * *

11. Interpretation

Later, both of them were 'busied' with their own activities—Rin was watching the TV while eating oranges, and Len sat silently beside her, looking into his book.

That went on for a straight one hour.

Then Rin decided to say a random thing. "I'm thinking… if you could teach me how to cook, Len."

The room went awkwardly silent after that.

"Um, Rin." Len said while glancing at her. "Are you sure? What makes you ask something like that?"

Rin stayed still in her position, processing Len's words in her head that implied: "Are you crazy? What the hell has gotten into your mind?"

At the end, with a sheepish smile, she said. "No, I'm not sure. Just pretend I have never said that, Len."

* * *

12. Role Change

She was sure, she had taken her words back. But there she was, standing inside the kitchen, wearing an orange apron which was similar with the yellow one Len was wearing.

"So… let's start." Len said awkwardly. "We're learning nothing in particular, you just have to help me to cook for the dinner."

"O-okay, I will do my best." Rin said, bringing her fist up in a cute manner.

Seeing Rin like that, Len blushed. Rin took a notice at this, but having no clue of what was happening, asked, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, Rin. Let's… just start." Len said, hiding his face by looking away.

* * *

13. Hatred

"Len, sure he wants to get killed by Meiko, doesn't he?" Neru said carelessly after she heard that he didn't come to the cafe. "Or maybe he enjoys the punishment Meiko gives? Wearing frilly maid uniforms…"

Miku looked at Neru with a frown. "Well, I don't know. But, uh, Neru, do you have something against Kagamine-sama? You always call him with his first name, not respecting him as the ruler. Then, you looked… pissed off only because you heard his name."

Neru raised one of her eyebrow. "Hm? Like that? I seriously don't understand why people respect him that much, he's _just_ the ruler." She rolled her eyes. "And what? Don't you feel the same way, Miku? Just seeing his face, or even just hearing his name had already piss me off, Miku."

Miku tilted her head, "For no reason?"

Neru slammed the table in front of her with her phone—she was holding her phone for the whole time, after all. "_That_'s the reason! His face! His hair! His voice! His blah!" After saying that, she concentrated at her phone with a frown on her face and walked out from the room.

Miku just stared at the door. Maybe she shouldn't ask something like that anymore.

* * *

14. Have No Life

Miku just couldn't imagine living like Neru.

Eating while texting.

Walking while texting.

Shopping while texting.

She almost did everything while texting.

'Doesn't she run out of idea? Texting all day long, there must be a lot of things to say. Wonder what she talks in her texts... Everyday routine? About work? How annoying and boring the world is? Or maybe about her life?'

Right when she thought of that, Neru walked into the room, _still_ holding her phone with a constant glance at the monitor, "What're you doing, looking at blank space with a strange serious look like that?"

"Huh?" Miku got out from her thought, "I'm... Just thinking about something..."

"If it's about Kagamin—_Len_ again, I don't care. Ah, like I care about anything, anyway..." Then she plopped herself onto the bed, then started to type in her phone with an incredible speed.

Miku caught her almost calling Len with his last name, but not saying anything as Neru had looked back to her phone. 'There, she's texting again...' She thought, the sound of keypad tone was heard on the background, 'Texting is really her life, I think...'

She suddenly widened her eyes, 'Wait, she had no life besides texting... Then what is she talking about in the messages?'

* * *

15. Extraordinary

The dinner turned _surprisingly_ good, Len thought. At first he doubted Rin's help, but he didn't know what was in his mind, and asked her to help him. Actually, he felt his heart beating faster than usual, afraid that the cooking would turn bad because of Rin—not that he think about Rin negatively, it was just the truth—and the food might accidentally got poisoned (somehow, maybe because of a foreign object mixed with the food?), though he wouldn't be killed by consuming it.

But Rin? He was worried about her.

"Whoa, this is good!" Rin exclaimed after tasting the food, saying the usual line. "It's still good even though I interfered with this!"

There, Rin herself thought like that as well.

"Doesn't that mean that you don't ruin it? You can actually cook, right?" Len asked.

"No, this is the first time I've gone this far." Rin said with a smile, as if saying something more serious than cooking. "I've always failed with my cooking."

Len blinked twice. "Then, before I got to this house, what did you eat?"

"Um~" Rin said, placing her index finger on her lips. "You know, delivery service is everywhere, and I always have enough time to go out and buy something _instant_ to eat. At least I can boil the water for the instant cup noodles~ And oh, sometimes I ate at Teto-chan's house."

Len had never thought before that this _no ordinary person_ was actually his sister.

It's okay, though. He was glad that he had someone like Rin to be his sister.

* * *

16. That Brother and Sister Moment

Locked in her very own room, Gumi sat silently on the floor, leaning on the bed as she read the manga in her hand seriously. Why locked? She thought it her brother found her doing this, he would snatch the book from her hand, telling her to do something more 'productive'. But she knew, once he had taken her book, he would walk back to his room and read her book there.

He was doing nothing different. Maybe that was how she could understand why her brother was more useless—at least she still did the house chores!

And at that peaceful moment, her phone decided to ring and break the silence. Gumi took the phone she put next to her, and see what message she got this time.

_From: Rin_

_"Gumi-chan! Look at this, look at this~"_

There was a photo of food attached to the message.

"_We made it together. No, actually I was just helping Len ww -Rin_"

Gumi smiled. Sometimes she felt… jealous when someone says that they was having fun with their family. With her parents who loves to travel and left their children home ("Ah, they've grown up—they surely can take care of theirself. Gumiya is a good brother who can look for her sister, and Gumi is a nice sister who will listen to her brother~" Gumi began to question that statement now), and her brother who was just… helpless, she hadn't really had fun with them.

"Gumi! Get out from your room, quick!" There was Gumiya, shouting from the other side of her door.

She didn't answer him with the usual grumbling, but she sent her book flying to the air (then it landed on the bed) and headed to the door.

Because she wasn't answering, Gumiya called her again. But after that, the door slammed open, and Gumi tackled him. Surprised, his eyebrows raised. "Gumi? What's wrong?"

Gumi glared at him, sticking her tongue out. "My friend was having fun with her brother and I envy her! Miya, you're a meanie! Now, let's go to the kitchen and cook something together!" And with that, she dragged her brother away to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Gumiya smirked. 'So this is how she acts when she's lonely. Heh, I haven't had fun with her for a long time, maybe…'

He somehow made Gumi release him, then he stood up in front of her. Gumi frowned, "What now?"

"Ah, something little." He grinned. "This."

He pinched her cheeks, both of them.

"Hey, this… Miya, it hurts!" Gumi yelled at him with an unclear voice, before bursting out laughing.

Of course, he laughed as well.

* * *

17. Vegetable Juice Dance

Rin also sent Teto the picture, but her only comment was, "Oh, that's nice! Finally you can cook, even though it's just helping your brother! Anyway, open this!"

The last sentence was a link Teto wanted her to open. A bit curious, Rin opened the link.

...And it contains a video, with Teto dancing, following a bubbly song about… vegetable juice?

290,707 views, 8,150 comments, and 5,581 mylist…?

Through message, Rin asked her, "_Teto-chan, P… poppippo? What… is that random thing? -Rin_"

The reply came out fast, "_Well, like what you say, it was a random thing that I sang and danced like that. My brother insisted me to upload it to the internet, so why not? I wasn't expecting it to get such a good reception, actually w -Teto_"

"_Oh, ehehe, hehe, okay then~ -Rin_"

* * *

18. Earlier

'If Teto-chan made and showed me something like that, what would Miki-chan do…?' Rin thought after sending Miki the picture. 'As long as I remember, Miki-chan is random. Far more random than the random Teto-chan. What's her reaction?'

"_Oh, nice! I wish I had a brother, but oh well~ Now I'm buying supplies in the market, people seem to love the early Santa! -Miki_"

With a huge question mark above her head, Rin thought. '…Early Santa? What does that mean?'

* * *

19. Last Song

The voice just listened as Len played the notes on the piano, where it was almost midnight. Few notes played, then the sound of paper being scratched took place to fill the night's silence.

He took a look at the music sheet, which turned to be an almost blank sheet with no title. Only few notes were scribbled on the paper, with small-sized letters written neatly under the notes.

'_Don't blame on me if you wake up late in the morning, you're still up until now._' He warned. '_And I thought you love sleeping more than writing songs._'

Len paused his activity. 'It equals.' He replied shortly before continuing his work.

That answer made no sense for him.

If he could, he would tilt his head and ask something. Since he techically had no head, the only thing he could do was asking. But then, asking would be useless after all, so he decided to keep silent.

It went like that for the time being, piano and scratching continuously filled the silence.

Then suddenly a clattering sound echoed throughout the small room—all because a mechanical pencil fell to the floor.

And after that, the melody broke, calling back the previously nonexistent silence.

After a moment, a voice broke it. "I'm running out of time, right?"

* * *

~~20 drabbles (of failure) in this one. It _might_ be added if I want to, though.

PoPiPo doesn't belong to me. LamazeP owns it. And that view/comment/mylist count is from Nico that I saw today (5/16/2012).

Ye—s, I hope the next chapter comes out fast! Wish... me luck? Ehehehe~


	43. Chapter 43: 3600

~~It has been a month. No, actually I finished this last Thursday (it still doesn't matter) but only have the chance to upload it today!

Now I feel loved (?) so thank you very much for RPR-san, Happiness Sunshine and Gum-san and pinkalicious101-san for the reviews!

* * *

The class was still empty like usual, and she was already there, sitting on her desk while looking at the light gray clouds that were hanging on the sky.

She muttered to herself, "Summer's going to end soon, and I don't think I've done many things in this summer." Then she frowned and rested her head on her palms.

Five minutes passed, and someone opened the door. She looked at the door, recognizing the person and a smile appeared on her face. "Rin-chan!"

At first, Rin looked somehow startled with her greeting. But she answered her after that. "Oh… Morning, Teto-chan." Then as if nothing was wrong, she walked to her desk without saying anything else.

Teto looked at Rin with one of her eyebrow raised. Rin didn't seem to be… _Rin_. So she decided to ask her, "Rin-chan, is there something wrong? You look less cheerful than usual…"

Rin looked surprised by that. "Really?" She asked. Then she looked away, but faced Teto shortly after that, with a bright smile on her face. "There's nothing Teto-chan~ What are you worrying about?"

Teto could only made a weird face to her friend. "Nice cover you have there, Rin-chan. I could've been fooled if I didn't see you earlier…"

Rin sighed and looked away. "It's no… Never mind, you won't believe me if I say 'it's nothing' anyway. But… do I really look less cheerful, Teto-chan?"

"If you ask me, the answer will be 'yes', of course." Teto said while nodding. "There's something, right?"

Rin nodded. For a moment, Teto looked at Rin's white bow that moved along when she was nodding. Then it fell down as if it was wilting. Maybe Rin's bow was really alive? "Maa— It's just… You know, Len's going to go—"

She stopped.

She realized that she almost told Teto about _everything_. Luckily she realized it midway. Though Teto was her friend, Rin didn't think that she could tell Teto about the fact that… her brother wasn't a human anymore.

She coughed, making that 'ahem' sound, and spoke, "He's going to move away from me… like that."

Then, Teto turned to Rin with a face of disbelief. "W-what? Seriously?"

Rin watched her friend making that face before nodding slowly. She felt glad that actually Teto believed her (the story is logical, after all), but…

"You've been separated for a long time, and when the two of you are finally reunited, he has to move away like that?" Teto said.

"…Yeah." Rin said, and she looked down to the floor. "We're gonna be separated again."

* * *

Chapter 43

* * *

The television shone continuously, displaying moving pictures. From far away, the voice could be heard faintly. Though no one was watching, it continued to display pictures.

The rest of the house was completely in silence, as if it was empty. But in fact, someone was still in the house. In 10.00 am, no one supposed to be in the Kagamine's house.

There, stood a boy about 15 near the living room. While still in his crumpled up shirt, he looked at the television that was on despite no one was watching.

"Rin… forgot to turn off the television again, right." He mumbled to himself.

'_Maybe she was in a hurry this morning? I don't know_.' The voice inside his head said. '_You better turn it off, Len. Rin would be pissed if she found out that the electricity is wasted… Though she's the cause of it_.'

He did nothing but stare at the television. After a short moment, the TV went off by itself.

Like nothing had happened, he went to the kitchen to take find something to eat. Later, he went back to the living room with a banana in his hand. He sat on the couch and started peeling the yellow-colored food.

'_Why don't you go to the school? It's still 10 am._' The voice asked. '_Or you're too lazy to go? You look like you don't want to do anything right now._'

He took a bite of the fruit, slowly chewing it while looking at the turned off television blankly. "No, I feel… something is going to happen today." He said, then he took another bite.

'_Does that make you stay here, not go to the school like that?_'

He paused his activity of eating for a short moment. 'No, I mean—'

That was when his phone (he didn't even know it was there, on the table) rang, making his words cut off. He looked at it before reaching for it without getting off from the couch.

He opened the flap and looked at the caller ID. 'Hatsune Miku' was displayed in large font on the screen. He pressed the green-colored key on his phone hesitantly and brought the device to his ear.

"Hel—"

"Kagamine-sama!" The voice at the other line yelled. "Sorry I'm yelling like this, but Neru has just finished the small reaserch she has been doing and—"

'Akita-san was doing a what?' He thought, but not saying anything into the phone.

"—it's seems like today we have to go back…" Miku trailed off. "We don't know when exactly, but it's today—we have to go or else…"

"…We will disappear, aren't we?" He said with a low voice. "I understand."

"Now we're still in Rainbow Ice," Miku said. "I think it won't be too late if we get ready now—I hope we still have enough time."

When he heard that, he felt like someone told him something, though he was _really_ sure that no one was talking to him—not even the voice inside his head—as if it was something he knew by himself. But was that even possible?

He knew when they would be erased if they didn't go soon. Much sooner than what he had expected before.

"…One hour." He mumbled, but still having his mouth in front of the phone, enabling Miku to hear him as well.

"What… one hour?" She asked slowly.

"We only have one hour." He repeated, this time he sounded more sure that before. At this point, Len got up from the couch and started walking into his room. If he only had one hour left to be in this world, at least he wanted to…

Miku didn't say anything at first, but then she said. "You know that… Never mind, we have to hurry up."

Lowering his head, he answered. "Yes. And ah, see you soon, Hatsune-san. Use your time to prepare."

"Ah, yes, same for you too, Kagamine-sama." Miku said. "Then, I'll hang up now."

She ended the call, and that left everything in silence—at least for him.

'_Well… from where did you know that you only have an hour left…?_' The voice asked with a sheepish laugh. '_Well, it wasn't that surprising, though. You're the ruler after all—there's a possibility that you can know something the others don't._'

His eyes widened slightly. 'I didn't know about that… Is that so?'

'_Well, uh… it seems to be like that._' The voice said as if he was face-palming at that moment. '_I really didn't think you will forget _everything_ like this… ah, never mind about that, we have something more important right now._'

After the voice said that, he looked around his room while thinking about something. "What can I do in an hour…?"

He sat on his bed, then he looked at the digital clock that was still displaying the red-colored numbers.

10.18 am, and he thought two or three minutes had passed when he told Miku about that, and when the voice talked to him.

He only had 57 minutes.

* * *

10.00 am. At school, everyone in the class was already seated in their own seats with books prepared on the table.

"Today, like the usual Tuesday, we're gonna study history…" The teacher started with that line. "…Although I don't really need to say that. We're just going to review what we had learned last week."

The students gave no reaction to the teacher. Everyone thought, 'Yeah, do whatever you want.'

"Maybe I'll ask you some question to test you, then I'll know whether you understand or not, memorize or not, and pay attention or not in the last week's lesson." The teacher said.

And of course, he was answered by groans of the students.

"Then, let's start with… hmm, who's gonna be the first?" The teacher said to himself. "Kagamine-san, then."

Rin stood up from her seat and directed her gaze to the teacher. She was ready to answer whatever question the teacher was going to ask her.

But instead of giving Rin a question, the teacher raised his eyebrow. "I just realize it… Kagamine-kun doesn't seem to be here, hm? Is he absent?"

The noise in the class increased, everyone started talking to each other.

"Hey, he's right. Kagamine's not here."

"I just realize it as well~"

"Huh? I wonder why he doesn't come to the school…"

Between the noise, Rin stayed calm and tried not to say anything. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath while still standing in her previous position.

"Okay, class…" The teacher said, and he got ignored by the students who were still talking endlessly. "Class?" He repeated.

Unlike the others, actually Rin heard the teacher's call. She looked around, and found everyone still talking. The only thing she could do was sighing, so she did that.

"Can all of you just… shut up?" The teacher finally said desperately.

Strangely, the students heard that and they went silent.

"Okay, so… Kagamine-san, do you know where he is?" The teacher asked, and Rin got confused with the question—this wasn't what she had expected before. She thought the teacher would ask her about the history thingy…

With disappointment, Rin replied, "I don't know."

The teacher gave the confused look back to her. "How can you 'don't know'? You're his sister, right?"

"That doesn't mean I know what he's doing, or where he is right now." Rin replied calmly.

Hearing Rin's answer, Gumi could only wonder from her own desk. She guessed that something might be wrong with Rin, or maybe Rin had a problem with Len. She sounded like… she didn't want to care about his existence.

But instead of 'angry' or 'pissed off', Gumi could sense that Rin was feeling 'sad' and 'worried'. Rin didn't tell her anything, after all. So it must be a problem she wanted to keep to herself.

But Gumi couldn't let it goes like that—she wanted to know what Rin's problem is.

She looked at Rin, then to the teacher. Both were still talking to each other, and the rest of the class got ignored by them. Gumi used that little chance to pull up her phone from her pocket and send a message.

_To Len:_

"_Where are you right now? -Gumi_"

Sending the message as fast as she could, Gumi hoped that he would read and reply to her message as soon as possible. The fact didn't say so, though. Five minutes had passed and there was no sign of ringing from her phone.

Gumi reverted her gaze to the teacher once more, finding him _still_ talking to Rin. But she really had to interrupt them a bit.

"Excuse me, Sensei. May I go to the restroom?" Gumi asked politely.

The teacher stopped speaking for a moment, then he scanned the class, trying to find who called him before. "Ah, Nakajima-san. Of course you can."

With no other word, Gumi stood up and walked away from the class. Little did she know that Rin was watching at her back until she was out from her sight.

"Uh, right. Let's move to the lesson—I was going to ask Kagamine-san, right? So let's start… The first question is…"

* * *

After ending the call, Miku turned to Neru. "Thank you for doing the search, Neru…"

"Nah, it's my job after all." Neru said with a little smirk on her face. "And I haven't done that for a long time, kind of missed that job."

Miku blinked twice. "You're a researcher? Didn't expect that at all, since I usually see you walking to Kagamine-sama's room with stack of paper. I thought you're the delivery girl or something…"

"What the hell is a delivery girl? Such job doesn't even exist!" Neru snapped.

Miku waved her hand playfully. "It doesn't—I was just kidding, Neru, don't take it seriously like that~ I know you're a researcher, but there's nothing to search there so you don't really 'work' as a researcher, right?"

Neru hmph-ed, and she said. "Then, if the result of the search is right, what are we gonna do now? Using the time we have or just waiting until the time comes? But I don't know when exactly the time is—"

"An hour." Miku said, trying to keep herself calm. "Kagamine-sama said we have one hour—"

Neru didn't say any word of protest about Miku cutting her sentence. She froze for a brief second, then looked at Miku, straight into her eyes with a look of disbelief.

"He what?" She asked.

"He said we have an hour…?" Miku repeated hesitantly.

Neru glared at her immediately. "He knows that and he doesn't tell us? Damn it…" With a pissed off look on her face, she continued her rants. "That's why that guy pisses me off, really much."

"Neru, calm down. At least he had told us, it's better to be late than not at all." Miku said, trying to calm the yellow-haired girl down. "I think he just knew that when I said it's today—he's the ruler after all, don't you believe in him?"

Neru gave Miku a sharp glare and said nothing else.

"Well, I'm going to prepare. Why don't you do that as well, Neru?" Miku broke the silence with the clicking sound of her shoes, and she walked away from their room where they were in.

'At least I have to say goodbye to him. Yeah, that's what I'm going to do… to say goodbye to my dearest brother.' Miku thought as she walked away.

* * *

'The time passes too quickly…'

* * *

'_And tell me, why you choose this over all other things you can do in a single hour._' The voice ask in an annoyed voice as he looked out through the window. '_Look, the weather's pretty clear so why don't you go outside?_'

And that made Len sigh. Sometimes—no, _often times_—the voice was so annoying for him. He didn't need to comment at his every movement, right? 'What is wrong about this? I want to finish this before I go.'

He glanced at the music sheet that was already filled with notes and lyrics. '_It's the song you started at that night._'

'It is.' Len replied. 'I was planning on playing this for Rin, but I guess it's not possible if I only have less than an hour. At least it has to be finished before I go.'

'_Hm?_' The voice sounded as if he was saying that while raising one of his eyebrow. '_You know, piano also exists in the Afterworld, you can still play it even after you go back._'

Len blinked twice, not believing him. Then he asked like an excited child, 'Really?'

'_Yeah, really. You have to believe in me now._' The voice said as he smirked inside.

'Sure, I will try to understand.' Len replied with a smile on his face. 'So… do you like to play the piano?'

'_What… makes you ask something like that?_' The voice asked slowly.

'Ah, curiosity?' Len asked back. 'Answer the question.'

'_If you're insisting me to answer that, then yes, I do._' He rolled his eyes. '_Seriously Len, what makes you ask something like that? I'm a mere voice, nothing else. You don't need to know anything about me._'

'I understand that you don't want to reveal your true indentity but… never mind.' Len stood up from the stool and started walking away from the piano.

'_You finished with that already?_' He asked. '_That's fast, compared with the previous ones. Then, what are you going to do now?_'

'Going to the school, I think.' He closed the door. 'There might be enough time to go there.' Then he looked at the clock, slowly reading it.

32 minutes left.

* * *

"Hey, did you see a girl with teal hair on the hallway?" A boy asked to his friend.

With a bright, happy looking face, his friend replied. "I saw her! The beautiful look she has can't be forgotten easily!"

"I saw her as well!" Another boy joined the conversation. "She's not from this school, huh. If she did, well, then maybe I will…"

"What? You will ask her out?"

"That's what I'm gonna say!" He replied jokingly while laughing.

Meanwhile from another side of the class, Mikuo sat in his desk while listening their conversation withough commenting. From what he had heard, apparently there was a teal-haired girl, not from his school, and walking at the hallway.

In normal circumstances, he would think, 'If she's not from this school, why is she wandering around here?' But the fact that the girl was _teal-haired_ made him feel uneasy.

He was a teal-haired boy.

He had a sister—who was supposed to be dead, that's it—who was also teal-haired.

Something was definitely fishy there.

He jumped slightly from his seat when a question from his classmate directed to him. "Mikuo-kun, do you by any chance know about that girl? The two of you… look alike."

Mikuo stood up from his chair, pushing it backwards and let it hit the desk behind him (causing a yelp from a girl who was sitting on that desk). He gave him a look of disbelief. "What did you say…?"

With that, he stormed to the door, silently praying in his head, 'Let it someone else but Miku, not her, she has nothing to do with me, she has no reason to go here. _Please, anyone but her_! Maybe someone who coincidentally looks like me or her! Yeah! **Please**!' The person from before followed him to the door, curious with what Mikuo will do.

Mikuo opened the door, almost slamming it open. Although he saw no one when he opened the door, a teal-haired girl _with twintails_ came into his view when he looked to the right.

She returned at him with a relieved look. "Oh, Mikuo!"

He froze. While he was freezing, the boy from before elbowed him. "She knows you, after all."

"She…" Mikuo inhaled deeply in the pause. "She's my sister…"

After that he ran towards her, then pulled her somewhere else. Of course, Miku didn't stay silent when Mikuo pulled (dragged) her away. "Where are you taking me to?"

Mikuo released a heavy sigh. "First, why did you wander around in front of my class? My classmates are talking about you." He hissed. "Then, second, why are you here? I didn't even told you where my school is."

Miku narrowed her eyes and pouted, "It's simple, Kagamine-sama goes to the same school. Um, seems like he's absent today." She said, the last part was directed to herself.

"And from where did you know that he's absent?" Mikuo nearly yelled at his sister, not realizing that he had given her 'some imformation' nobody should know.

Usually he stalked him. The blonde hair that shone under the light, the pale-looking skin, the perfectly colored ocean blue eyes, and the _cute lips_ was hard for Mikuo to miss. At this point, Mikuo thought that he started to develop a certain feeling to the said blonde.

But at that day, Len was out from his sight, so the conclusion he made was 'Len was absent'.

Silently praying that Miku wouldn't notice anything strange, Mikuo waited for her answer. The first thing he noticed was Miku's sigh. "I… I know you're gay, Mikuo. But why it has to be Kagamine-sama? Isn't that because the red haired boy had gotten a girlfriend? Your heart is broken and you decide to… like someone else?"

Mikuo blushed bright red as Miku spilled his secret outloud (thank God no one was there). But more importantly, from where did she know that?

"M-m-m-mi-mi-mi-miku…" He stuttered—the worst stutter he had ever made. "I-I know you're dead and _something else_, but, just… Argh!" He pulled his hair in frustration. "Fine, what do you want? Answer it straight to the point—what do you want?"

"I just want to say goodbye." Miku said quickly after Mikuo had finished his question. "So… please don't get mad at me."

14 minutes left.

* * *

Gumi thought it was strange that Len didn't come to the school that day.

She also thought it was strange that Rin didn't seem to know what happened to him—and it seemed like she didn't want to know about it.

Then, she thought it was strange that Len didn't reply her message—or maybe he hadn't even read it?

After she excused herself from the class room to 'go to the restroom', she went to the rooftop instead of the restroom—the teacher wouldn't know it anyway. Of course, no one was on the rooftop except her. She used that opportunity to relax a bit.

She looked up to the blue sky from the rooftop—sure, the sky was bright, but she felt something was _also_ strange with the sky.

"Then, would something unexpected happen today…?" She muttered to herself.

She continued to stare, thinking about nothing for some minutes. She finally found it pointless, and she sighed. She turned her gaze back to the rooftop, where she was trapped inside a fence.

"Rin said she had fallen from this place. But an angel saved her." Gumi said to herself. "Does that angel… really exist?"

Suddenly a soft thump was heard, Gumi could tell it that it came from behind. The thought of someone hearing her talking to herself made her jump slightly. She started to look back slowly in embarrassment.

Gumi would probably wave her hands frantically and tried to explain about 'her talking to herself', but Gumi just clamped her mouth with her hands soundlessly, her eyes widening in disbelief.

Stood behind her a person with white, feathery wings on his back that seemed to gleam even under the cloudy sky.

An_ angel_.

Although what she was seeing was practically an angel, she didn't expect _him_ to come from all the people.

"Len." She breathed out.

"Gumi." Silently, he said in return. He was looking at her, but his gaze slowly fell to the hard concrete.

13 minutes left.

* * *

"Wait, Miku. Repeat that?" Mikuo said, demanding Miku to repeat what she had said.

"I just want to say goodbye. Period." She repeated, her voice sounded softer than before. "I have died, Mikuo. From the very first time we met after I died, it's supposed to be a goodbye. That time when I visited your house to say goodbye… But at the end we met each other again." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to continue, "This is a real goodbye, Mikuo. My time is over."

Hatsune Miku.

His sister was always been annoying for him—from the time she was born, until she died. But at that bright, sunny day, when an unknown disease finally took her life away from the world, Mikuo didn't understand anything about 'death'.

His life just went on without his sister, though that feeling of loss was always there. He never really felt that he had lost his sister.

But that time, when he _suddenly_ found her inside of his house, he got that mixed feeling. Whether to be happy that he could finally see his sister again, surprised to see her because she was supposed to be dead, and that feeling…

That he missed his sister.

"No need to feel sad." Miku said, snapping him out from his short flashback. He looked back at her, and she was smiling at him sadly. "The mourning moment had passed, Mikuo. I've gone, long time ago. And you're not the only one who's experiencing this—someone else does as well, so don't feel like that."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked. "Experiencing what? Meeting someone who had died, and having to say goodbye at this very moment?"

"More less, that." Miku said. "You know Kagamine-sama's sister, Kagamine Rin, right?"

"Of course I do…" Mikuo said. 'Of course I know that—she's Len's sister after all. As a stalker, I supposed to know his family members…' He thought, and spoke, "What's with her? She's the one who's experiencing the same thing?"

Miku's smile broke into a sly one. "What is this? You don't realize it? It seems like love has made you blind." Before Mikuo had a chance to speak, Miku continued. "Think about it once more, how did I know Kagamine-sama in the first place when I'm supposed to be dead? We don't get in touch with the people on the earth, you know."

Mikuo thought rather slowly. Miku had died when she was six, and at that time, she didn't have that much friends. And he knew all her friends—but Len or Rin wasn't included, it was a year ago when he saw Rin for the first time, and months ago when he saw Len for the first time.

If Miku said that _they_ didn't get in touch with people on the earth, means they still get in touch with themselves—people who had died. And it means that—

"Kagamine-sama had died, 6 years ago." Miku told him the answer. "He's just the same as me, so find someone else to love, Mikuo."

Mikuo didn't say anything—his head was lowered, making his eyes got covered with his bangs. Then he laughed.

He laughed, and that made Miku tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong, Mikuo? That truth-blow wasn't that hard… I think."

"No, I'm just not expecting to lose two in just one day." Mikuo said, looking to his sister. "Nah, I'm okay with Len leaving—maybe I should put my hope at Akaito again." And he laughed.

'I really shouldn't be selfish.' Miku thought. 'He's already happy here, it's not possible for me to have him, bringing him to the world I belong. But I think… it's okay.'

Miku smiled as well, "Okay, good luck with that, Mikuo! I'll be rooting you from up there!"

* * *

"Today? It's today? It has to be **today**?" Gumi said, her voice increasing in every repetition she made. "And you haven't told Rin? It's the first time you make me mad, Len! By saying that!"

"Really, I've said I'm sorry… No need to be that harsh." Len said with a guilty-filled voice. "I don't want to make Rin sad as well, but I just know it… about 50 minutes ago."

Gumi hmph-ed, "And exactly, how much time do you have?"

"About 8 minutes." He replied monotonously. "And I haven't met Rin today."

"At the morning…" Gumi trailed off, realizing that Rin had said that she didn't know why Len didn't come, so probably they didn't see each other before going to the school.

But a question remained in Gumi's head—why Rin didn't know the reason of Len's absence? As siblings who lived together, they supposed to know when the other was away.

"You haven't met her? Then you need to meet her now." She said in a calmer tone as she looked around, like 'finding a way' to somehow help him. "We're in the middle of lesson now and I know you don't want to go inside the school without your uniform in the middle of the lesson—" She paused, letting her words hung in the air. "I am… here because you didn't answer my message and that worry me, so I decided to go here to wait for your answer…"

An idea rang in both of their heads. Len pulled out his phone from his pocket and flipped it open. Then he began to press the buttons rapidly.

'Anything, as long as it can reach her…'

* * *

Rin found the lesson really boring. There was no amusement from studying inside the class, and that pretty much made her glance at the clock again and again. She would check the time, and when she checked it again, a minute just passed.

Sighing, she slumped to the white-colored desk. 'Why, time flows too slowly at the school, in the middle of the lesson?' She thought. 'But when I think about him… time flows too quickly.'

'And I left him at home, and he didn't come to the school! Maybe he's still sleeping right now? Or maybe he's skipping school by purpose?' She thought, the teacher's explanation had no longer entered her ears. 'Now I feel guilty for not waking him up…'

She sat up, straightened herself on the chair as she _tried_ to listen to the teacher once more. But something else caught her attention—Gumi's empty desk.

Rin remembered hearing Gumi excused herself from the class to go to the restroom. But what kind of person spends more than 30 minutes inside the restroom? But strangely, no one seemed to notice that.

"Yes, what is it, Kagamine-san?" The teacher suddenly called Rin, making her jump slightly from the seat (she hoped no one saw her embarrassing reaction). At first she was a bit confused about why the teacher called her. But then she realized it.

Her hand was raised up.

Nervously, she fiddled with her shoulder-length hair. "May I go to the rest room?"

He looked at her for a short moment before turning back to the board. "You may go."

She hurriedly stood up from her seat and walked in fast pace to the door and finally exited the class.

'Gumi can't be spending that much time in the rest room—she's somewhere else, I know that.' Rin thought. 'But where she could be…? Maybe I really need to check the rest rooms first.'

She went up and down the building, checking every single rest room that existed. But no sign of Gumi at all.

'Right? No Gumi inside the rest room. She should be somewhere else.' She thought as she walked away from the last rest room she had visited. 'Maybe the rooftop? I should check that place first.'

She continued walking to the stairs to the rooftop. During this, a thought passed her mind.

Why did she look after Gumi, and wanted to find her that badly?

* * *

When you do something carelessly, the result comes out surprisingly good. But when you put you whole mind into doing something seriously, usually the result comes out not as good as what you had expected. Strangely that thing just happens.

'I can't think about a good way to say it.' It might sound monotone, but inside, Len was panicking because he hadn't finished his 'message' to Rin, and the time was chasing him, not stopping at all.

'_You usually came up with something good when you were writing song lyrics._' The voice commented.

Len ignored the voice again—it had become a habit—and looked at Gumi with hopeful eyes. "Gumi, can you help me with this?"

Gumi widened her eyes, not expecting that. "No, I think it's better if you write it by yourself—it's Rin who you're going to give the message to, do your best."

He pouted, but went back to the phone. And Gumi just stood there, staring at him, examining him.

He was going to leave.

Her best friend since she was in kindergarten was going to leave, for the second time. It wasn't like she could do anything about that—he had died long time ago, he wasn't supposed to be there.

So it was supposed to be okay if he leaves again.

"Hey, Len?" She called.

"Yes?" Not looking away from his phone, Len replied.

"Thank you," She continued, a smile appeared on her face. "For the times we spent together, for the things we have done together, for everything."

He looked up to her. "You're welcome, Gumi." He said.

"We will meet each other again, right?" She asked. "With Rin—the three of us, like the old time, and the present time."

"Yes. Of course." He flipped his phone close. "And Gumi, I have to say thank you as well… for being a really good friend—back then, and now. To think about it… You're the last person I saw before I died."

"You're welcome as well, Len." She giggled. "But what, your statement sound strange. 'You're the last person I saw before I died' doesn't sound normal at all—ah, you have finished the message?"

"More less, I haven't send it, though." He said and stepped back. "That's it. I'm going to go now."

"Already?" She said with a slight disappointment in her voice, but her smile didn't falter. "Then, goodbye."

"Goodbye… Gumi." He replied. "Take care of yourself. And Rin—"

"Don't worry, I'll watch over her, I'll make sure that she's happy." Gumi said. "Take care of yourself as well, Len. And hey, how about the message? You haven't send it?"

He jumped and stood on top of the rails. "I'm going to send it now, and… I'm going to go after that." He said as he flipped the phone open again. He pressed some buttons and finally hit the send button.

"Be careful during the travel, okay?" Gumi said. "Rin wouldn't be happy if you didn't—think about that."

"Of course." He said, smiling to her for the last time.

He was ready to go to meet Miku and Neru and back to where he belonged. He clutched his phone, and stepped off the rails. However, everything didn't go as smooth as the planning.

'_Time left: 5 seconds. It's over, Len._' The voice said, as if smirking when he said that. '_I'm sure you have changed your mind now—but you will still get what you've always wanted._'

Everything went black for him, he could no longer see anything. But he could feel it that he was falling down instead of flying. He could no longer hear anything—he was supposed to hear the wind because he was falling, right? And Gumi was screaming on top of her lungs, calling for him. It was no use, however. But strangely, he could hear the voice inside his head clearly.

'_Disappearing._' The voice said. '_Isn't this what you've always wanted? You wished that you never existed here in the first place, right? What you've always wanted is _to disappear_—that is the reason why you're here, remember that, _Usotsuki_._'

* * *

Mikuo didn't want to go back to the class—the events before made him lose his 'want' to study. Instead, he walked around the school yards. He knew that the teacher might spotted him walking around instead of studying—not that he care.

First, Miku bid her final goodbye, saying that she would go back to her 'world'—now he felt being left alone, although when Miku was there, they never slept under the same roof. Second, Len was actually dead.

Len was dead.

Len was dead.

That _illogical truth_ rang inside his head.

Maybe what Miku had said is right—maybe he need to 'go back' to Akaito. She had said it, so maybe there was a chance, right?

Now he was walking next to the school building, still thinking about his own problem when suddenly, he heard a scream. A really loud scream from above, like calling for someone's name—he didn't caught the name, though. He quickly looked up and saw a green haired girl, looking down from the school's rooftop with her hands clenching the railing.

Then an object, seemed to be falling from above, hit his head. "Ow!" He yelped in pain as his hand automatically rubbed his head that got hit. While rubbing, he looked at the fallen object with his eyes narrowed.

A yellow-colored phone. What was that doing there? Was that the girl's phone that fell from the rooftop to the ground of the school? Was that the reason why she screamed?

But no, she said a name earlier, so the reason was probably not that. Unless if her phone had a name.

He bent down to take the phone. The phone was still looking good. It could have been worse if the phone didn't hit him earlier. But why a phone fell, anyway? Who was crazy enough to _throw_ a phone away literally like that?

He opened the flap, maybe he could see who owned that phone. A message was displayed on the main screen, though.

"Message sending failed."

* * *

Rin threw the door open, the wind from the outside blew her hair and bow immediately. Although it was a bit distracting, Rin decided to ignore it and focus on her search.

But apparently, she had found Gumi. She was on the edge of the rooftop, holding the railings while looking down from that high place. She slowly walked closer to the green-haired girl and when she was close enough, she spoke. "Gumi? What are you doing here?"

In a complete surprise, Gumi whipped her head to Rin. Her eyes wide. "Rin?"

Rin tilted her head in confusion, "Yeah? What is it?"

"…Did you got a new message?" Gumi asked hopefully. Because Rin came to the rooftop a bit late, the only way Len could say his goodbye was through the message. He had left, after all. A bit confusing for Gumi, though. It looked like he _disappeared_ instead of going away.

Rin took her phone out from her skirt pocket. She checked the new mails and raised her eyebrow. "There's one, from Teto-chan."

Gumi leaned closer to see the phone as well. "Teto-chan? Nothing else?"

Rin scrolled down the list, and Gumi could see it as well that there wasn't any new message beside that one.

The message… wasn't delivered?

Gumi pulled Rin by hand and head to the door. "Then we need to go to the lowest floor."

Rin had no idea why she was being pulled away like that, but she just followed Gumi.

'Maybe she has something important to tell…'

* * *

~~Usotsuki (嘘吐き、うそつき) means liar. I don't know why, I think it sounds better than 'liar' so I put it instead of the English word...

Anyway, yesterday when I read the early chapter of this story... The grammar... I seriously have to fix it... later, after I finish this.

Thank you for reading until this note, thank you for still reading this story. Leave your review!


	44. Chapter 44: Message

Gumi panted heavily as they reach the lowest floor of the school, but it wasn't over, they had to run to the school yards after running down the stairs from the rooftop, which located above the fourth floor. Behind her, clutched in her hand was Rin, being dragged along. She, of course, was panting heavily as well. Unlike Gumi who had already knew the destination, Rin completely had no idea of where they were going. So she could only hope that they would stop running soon.

They went out from the main school building and ran to the side of the building. After that Gumi released her tight grip to Rin, letting her go as she stopped running. Rin stopped and look around. Why Gumi took her there, where no one was?

But it seemed like it weren't just the two of them there. There was another person—a male who she thought was an upperclassmen.

"Um, if I'm not mistaken, you're the girl who screamed earlier, right?" The boy asked. "Did you drop this?" He said as he showed them a phone.

A _too familiar_ phone for Rin. Then she realize who the boy was—

"Ha… Hatsune-senpai! How did you get Len's phone?" Rin yelled at him. "So you're still making a movement on him? Even as far as stealing his phone from nowhere? He doesn't seem to be in the school today, that's why."

Mikuo's facial expression changed. Again? After Miku spilled his secret out loud, now Rin? And what made it worse was, someone else was there. The green haired girl who was looking at him with huge curiosity.

"Do you know him?" She asked.

"Who? Len? I _do_ know him." He answered. "I suppose you're his friend, but why did you drop his phone at the first place?"

"I didn't drop it." Gumi said calmly. "Len did."

Rin tilted her head in confusion, what were they talking about? 'If Gumi said that he dropped it, then he must be there earlier. But I didn't see anyone but Gumi there.'

"Then where is he?" Rin asked.

Gumi looked at her with an almost unreadable expression. She turned to Mikuo and asked him politely for the phone. "Can you give the phone to Rin?"

"Oh, sure. Sorry then." He said as he gave the phone to Rin.

With a curious look, Rin slowly opened the phone. The status message was still displayed there—message sending failed. She closed the pop up window and saw a message, apparently that one that didn't get sent.

_To Rin:_

"_Sorry that I can't tell you in person since I don't have too much time. Perhaps this message will reach you. I have to go, Rin. Maybe you wouldn't be able to see me anymore when you read this—I'm really sorry. I know you can take care of yourself, Rin. You'll be okay. I'm looking forward for the day when we can see each other again, but that doesn't mean I want it to happen as soon as possible. While you still have the chance to live, then use that. Then, see you tomorrow, Rin. -Len_"

_Status: Sending failed._

* * *

Chapter 44

* * *

Rin was standing in front of the pastel-colored café with a huge 'Rainbow Ice' sign in a matching color in front of it.

'This is it.' She thought while taking a deep breath. 'I'm going to ask the owner of this café—seems like Miku and… the yellow hair in a side ponytail girl stay here. If they've gone to their world, then probably Len is too…'

She took a step toward the glass door and walked inside the café. Nothing was new inside the café, and nothing made her interested that much so Rin decided to take a seat right away. Shortly after that, a waitress came and put the menu on her table.

'Wait, I'm not here to eat some ice cream…' She thought as she scanned the menu list, but she ended up ordering an orange ice cream as usual. The waitress wrote down her order and just disappeared after entering a door with a 'staff only' sign in front of it. Rin still sat there without doing anything in particular before an idea popped to her mind. 'I can find that manager or owner office while waiting for the ice cream—it won't go anywhere, right?'

She stood up from her seat and walked away. She examined every existing door inside that café, checking whether it led to the room she was searching or not. She came across a door that had no sign at all and thought it was suspicious, so she pushed it open.

Behind that door, stood several other doors. Rin didn't even bother to think what was behind those doors, but she starts to open the door one by one. It was strange—she found a music room and a bedroom _in a café_—but later, she got some clue about the whereabouts of the room.

The yells and screams that she could hear.

With a satisfied smile, Rin went to the door where she could hear the sound the loudest and threw it open without thinking. Despite that straight-forward action, she asked politely to whoever in the room with an innocent voice, "Excuse, is this the manager's room? I would like to have a talk with—"

"Oh, yes, I'm here, ready to listen to whatever you're gonna say!" A brunette woman in red exclaimed as she turned her head to Rin who was standing in front of the door. There was a cup in her left hand and her other hand was grabbing a scarf that belonged to a blue-haired man who she sat on. Not to mention their position was really awkward to look at—

"Seems like you two were in the middle of something, sorry for intruding—" Rin was about to step out from the room when a loud yell cut her.

"Wait, you got this completely, extremely wrong!" The blue-haired man yelled. "We weren't in the middle of something—I mean, she was in the middle of beating me up!"

Rin looked back to both of them, her eyebrows were slightly raised. 'So this is… Sakine Meiko and Shion Kaito, if I'm not mistaken… And Len had to face this _every day_?' She shifted uncomfortably in her standing position and asked a question. "Um, I... I'm Len's sister and—"

She got cut again. "Oh yeah, I've seen you before." Meiko said in an unbelievably calm voice—as if her personality has completely changed. "You've come here several times, right? It hard to miss the bow on your head, you know."

"Ah, you're right." Rin said as she nodded. 'And once dressed-up as Len.' She added in her head.

"Talking about them," Meiko said as she plopped herself to the couch when Kaito was still busying himself by tidying up the fallen things from his desk. "Akita-san left a note yesterday, saying she—they—had to go away. She didn't tell where and why, though. Hatsune had disappeared shortly before Akita did without telling anything and Kagamine didn't show up yesterday. I wonder what happened." She said. "Ah, yes, what do you need with me… or Kaito?" She asked as she looked back to Rin.

Rin didn't say anything. She only had one thing inside her head.

'They really had gone…'

"Well?" Meiko raised her eyebrows, waiting reply from Rin.

Quickly, Rin smiled and answered the question, lying smoothly to Meiko. "Ah, I was going to tell you that Len is moving away and he didn't have the time to tell you, so he asked me to tell you. And well, I would like to work here, it sounds like fun, working in a café~"

* * *

She shouldn't be mourning. She only needed to visit his grave and that's it. Her brother has died years ago, then why was she mourning at something that had happened long time ago?

Rin just couldn't help it—she just realized how important Len was for her after he died and 'returned back'. Of course there was a different feeling when she looked at his name on the gravestone. But what was it? Rin had been living that way of life for a long time and when she saw his name on the gravestone, she never really thought about it. She thought he was just someone she didn't know much, someone unimportant to her. But after he showed up in her house, everything changed.

Now he had left her, now he went back to where he belonged. Rin felt that loss, as if he just died… again.

'But there's nothing I can do.' Rin thought with a smile. 'But what if… I committed a suicide and died? With that way I would be together with Len again.'

She stood up from and removed the dusts from the skirt of her school uniform. 'But I can't do it. Len wants me to keep on living, so that is what I'm going to do. Then, when my time finally comes, I can tell Len the things I've been doing when I'm still alive.'

With a new, positive thought inside of her head, Rin twirled around, ready to head home. However, after her twirl, she heard a voice. A voice that belonged to someone she knew…

"Kagamine-chan? I didn't think I would meet you in such place." A boy wearing the male version of her school uniform walked up to her.

"Hatsune-senpai?" Rin exclaimed a little bit too loudly—it was a graveyard, and she was yelling. Rin really didn't expect Mikuo to be there as well, so the first thing she did was…

…standing in front of Len's grave, like trying to block it from his sight. There was no way Mikuo could find out the truth that Len was dead. It was a secret—she was still keeping away that truth from Teto as well, so why did Mikuo need to know?

Because she hadn't really finished her sentence, Rin continued it again. "W-what are you doing here?" She asked with a smaller voice—not really small, but small if compared to her previous yell.

"Me?" Mikuo pointed to himself. "I was visiting my sister's grave, Miku. You have… met her, right?"

Rin slowly nodded.

"Ah, it's a long story, but I don't think you need to know that." Mikuo finished. "What about yourself, Kagamine-chan? What are you doing here, all alone by yourself?"

And suddenly Rin was frozen in her place. Of course, asking him about the reason why he was there would make him ask her the same thing. Why didn't it come to her mind earlier?

'I was too panicked to realize it and blurted out that question…' Rin 'hissed' in her head.

"Um, you know, my parents had died and… well, I came here to visit them." Rin said—she wasn't really lying, though she _altered_ the truth… a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Mikuo said with a sympathetic look.

"Ah, it's okay—I've been living alone for a long time already. I'm used to it already." Rin said. "Well, I don't really feel sad about not having any parents anymore."

"Well, that's good, right…?" He said as he moved to her right. Actually he was going to see the grave next to the one that got blocked by Rin, but when he moved, Rin moved to the same directions as well. He started to get confused, because he immediately thought that Rin was doing this in purpose. Mikuo moved back to her left, and Rin followed his movement as well.

After a while, Mikuo gave up and asked. "Just… What the hell are you trying to do?"

"Nothing? I found out that following your movement like this is amusing, Hatsune-senpai." Rin said, it was obvious that she wasn't telling the truth—both of them knew it.

"Okay, I get it—you're 'hiding' something there." Mikuo said with a serious face.

"No, I'm not hiding anything." Rin said but when she finished that, Mikuo had moved to her right in a quick movement and she was unable to follow him like before. "Eeep! What are you doing?"

"Shut up! I'm not doing anything wrong!" Mikuo snapped back—well, more less because the way Rin spoke suggested that he did something wrong to her, like… harassing her. Of course Mikuo didn't want to be treated like that. "I'm just moving to my right to see whose grave you are blocking—"

Rin smiled mischievously. "Do you think this is your problem?"

"No, but I don't think it's a wrong thing to do it." Mikuo smiled back at her. "I start to think about… the whereabouts of Kagamine-kun's gra—"

And Rin hit him with her bag, a simple way to make him stop talking. "You… you already know that Len has already died? From… from where did you know it?"

Mikuo, who was still ouch-ing looked back at her. "Miku told me?"

Rin's smile changed from a mischievous one to a sadder one. "So… we're facing the same thing, eh? Uh well, I thought you found it out from stalking him~" Her tone changed into a happier one almost instantly. "How is the progress after knowing the truth, Hatsune-senpai? You can't date someone who has died already~"

"Hey, what was that for?" Mikuo asked, his face turning red. Miku had said that before, why did Rin have to bring up the same thing?

"Nothing, Hatsune-senpai."

At the same time, Rin thought, 'Yeah, he's already dead—there's nothing I can do besides moving on.' She said it once again in her head.

'And waiting.'

* * *

He had no idea where he was, and what was happening in front of his eyes. The place looked really crowded and full of shops—a marketplace, perhaps?

Feeling that he needed to get away from that place to somewhere else—though he didn't know where, at least _somewhere_ so he wouldn't have to wander around a marketplace, he pushed people aside, getting many protests and all he could say was, "Sorry, I didn't mean to—ah, sorry again!"

None of the face was familiar for him—the place wasn't even familiar, it was far different if compared to Japan. So he wondered why he could end up in such place, a place he didn't even know. Unless…

'Unless if this is the 'Afterworld'.'

He started to walk more calmly without pushing people aside because that part of the marketplace wasn't as crowded as the previous one. As he was walking, a voice that came from nowhere suddenly spoke, '_Well, if you're wondering, this is indeed, the Afterworld._'

'You're still here?' He said to the voice, feeling a bit annoyed by its existence.

'_I don't even understand why you hate me so much, Len._'

The voice got ignored _again_, for the umph-teenth time, and Len continued to walk while hoping that the voice would vanish soon—

'_No, you can't. You can say I am a part of you, but I am not you. So well, it's easy—you can't shoo me away._'

'…Okay?'

"Hey, you there! It has been a long time!" Someone called, and feeling like he was the one who was being called, Len turned his head to the source of the voice. Behind the things that was being sold in the shop, stood a pink-haired man who was looking back at him. The man seemed to notice his confused face, so he spoke again, "Yes, you. Why are you making that confused face?"

One thing in Len's mind: who was that man and why did he know him? And he was just going to say, "Um, sorry but I don't think we've met before. Maybe you mistook me for someone else…" when the voice suddenly 'spoke' again inside of his head.

'_You _have_ met him before, Len. So we'll be going through this smoothly-just act like you know him._'

The pink-haired man returned his confused expression to Len. "Well, we haven't done a proper introduction, so… But never mind about that, it's not really important anyway."

Len just nodded without saying anything.

"You probably had heard the news about the disappearing ruler, right?" He asked. "They're going to choose a new one today, since the ones who were responsible to look for him don't come back even until now."

Len tilted his head, feeling even more confused than before. 'The ruler? Hatsune-san said that I am the ruler, right? Then why did he say that when I'm standing in front of him?'

The man scratched the back of his head. "Well, like what I've said, I don't really know the current ruler, so I'm not-"

"Yuuma! Can you come here for a moment to help me with something?" Someone called from inside the shop, it was clearly a voice that belongs to a female and seemed like the pink-haired man was the 'Yuuma' she was calling.

"Wait a minute, Miz!" The man looked into the shop and called back before turning back to Len. "Ah, well, I have something to do right now so… I will go back into my shop."

Len just couldn't say that he was actually glad that Yuuma needed to go back. Then the awkward moment with this someone 'he had met before (said the voice) but he didn't seem to remember that' would end.

And after that, a loud call from somewhere broke the silence. "There he is!" The loud call made Len turned his head and saw…

…Miku and Neru dashing toward him.

"Kagamine-sama, we have to hurry!" Miku shouted for one last time before reaching his hand and pulled him away in a very fast movement. He couldn't even say a word before being pulled like that. Then Miku continued to explain, "I-I heard from somewhere that they're going to choose another ruler if we don't come back, so we have to get back and bring you as… as the proof that we have come back with you!" She said, still running. Neru ran along with them while mumbling things he couldn't make out. Perhaps she was cursing?

Even after they had disappeared from his sight, the man, Yuuma, was still standing there, speechless. He tried to understand what was happening in the last 10 seconds.

He knew the girls were the ones who were responsible for looking for the ruler… Then the boy he talked to was supposed to be…

"Yuuma! What takes you so long? These boxes are heavy!"

Yuuma came back into the shop, running as fast as he could. "Miz! Do you know anything about the current ruler?"

"Huh?" The woman asked him back. "Someone named Kagamine Len… If I'm not mistaken. Why are you asking that, Yuuma? Today they're going to choose a new one, right?"

"And that ruler is… is a blonde boy with blue eyes…?" Yuuma asked really carefully.

"From what I've heard, yes?" She asked back.

"Eh? Like, seriously?"

"Yes!" She yelled angrily. "Now help me! Argh, you're wasting my time, Yuuma!"

* * *

"Excuse us! Excuse us!" Miku yelled through the crowd. The road wasn't completely empty so they had to prevent theirselves from running into people. "We're in a hurry!"

People could hear her call well and stepped aside. They had known Miku well as someone who worked in the palace, so that was why people immediately give them some space to run.

Neru just ran along without even noticing the stares people was giving. She didn't even understand why people were staring at her-she never even get out from the place she was living in (at least after she started working there), and why people seemed to recognize her, she didn't understand.

"Kagamine-sama, are you okay?" Miku asked as she looked back. They had been running for a while, and she was a bit afraid that Len would get tired.

"I'm okay." He said silently. He wasn't feeling tired, actually. But he was still confused-from what he heard from the previous man he encountered with, they were going to choose another ruler if they didn't come back.

Did it have anything to do with him? It was okay for him if they changed the ruler. He didn't even remember being a ruler at all. But for Miku and Neru, they couldn't just run away and slack off-it was their responsibility to find him. He couldn't just turn them down.

Soon, a huge building that looks like a kind of palace came into their sight. Instead of slowing down, Miku fastened her running pace-and of course Len and Neru had to run faster as well-and exclaimed happily. "Oh, we're almost there! Let's hurry or it'll be too late!"

Some guards were standing in front of the main gates, but they opened the gate immediately after they saw them.

"They know that we're the ones who are getting in so they opened the gate?" Len asked.

"That's right. Of course the ruler will be recognized everywhere." Miku said.

'Really? The pink-haired man from before didn't seem to recognize me…' He thought.

They ran through a long open hallway where the scene of the outside could be seen. Miku turned to her left where a door stood. She quickly threw the door open and announced loudly to whoever in that room.

"We're back!"

Two people-respectively a female and a male-turned their head to them. The man had a long, purple hair and the woman had a flowing, long blonde hair. The woman gave them a shocked expression. "Hatsune-san and Akita-san… You're back… along with Kagamine-sama…" She said while covering her mouth with her hand.

The man then smirked. "Well, that means we don't have to bother choosing a new ruler."

The woman seemed to ignore the man, because she immediately rushed to the ruler. "You're okay, right? Are you getting hurt somewhere?" She asked as she examined Len fron top to toe.

Surprised with the sudden action from the woman, Len stepped back a bit. "Um, y-yes, I'm okay…"

"Ah, Masuda-san must be really worried about Kagamine-sama." Miku said with a slight giggle.

"Masuda-san?" Len asked Miku before turning back to the woman.

Miku got surprised with his question and flinched. 'How am I going to tell them that Kagamine-sama lost his memory?' She thought. But seems like it couldn't be hidden-she just going to do it _slowly_. "Ah, yes, Masuda Lily-san."

It was Lily's turn to look confused. "Hatsune-san, what's-"

And Neru cut her off easily. "He lost his memory. Hah."

Then they-Lily and the man-started throwing questions at him, but he just ignored them easily because he was thinking about something else.

Lily? His mother?

* * *

Gumi didn't really understand why, but since Len left, Rin had changed… back to her old self as a trouble seeker. And of course, unlike her, Teto had no problem about that. Teto was on Rin's side often, but when she went off limit, of course Teto was the one who held her off.

Gumi could only watch them while shaking her head mentally, thinking that Len's presence was the one that actually stopped her from doing these strange thing of seeking for trouble. It sounded strange, but Gumi couldn't say that it wasn't the truth either-she _did_ think that he was the reason. Because he was there, Rin's attention wasn't on the trouble seeking 'job' but on him.

"I've been ringing the bell several times, but why no one come out and yell at me, like, 'What the hell are you doing?' or it's even better if I get a punishment…" Rin muttered as she looked at the huge house that practically said 'rich people live in here'. The house bell caught her attention and made her do… that.

Gumi was in total shock when she heard her saying that. They were walking together, side by side, but Gumi was too absorbed in her thought that she didn't notice Rin doing that. Then she raised her eyebrows, questioning Rin. "And… what will you do if someone opens the door and scolds you?"

"Um." Rin looked at her feet. "I think I will… run away."

"Weren't you looking for a trouble?" Gumi asked again.

"Yeah." Rin said and started to walk away. Her voice didn't have the usual cheeriness. "I want to, but if the trouble really comes, I think I will run away. I don't understand why I can say that 'I want to' when I'm just going to run away."

Gumi could sense that Rin wasn't as enthusiast as usual, but she was trying to hide it. It seemed like Rin was feeling a little bit lonely, but she didn't want anyone to know it.

Of course. Being left by someone you love feels lonely. Gumi could understand that as well, but she wished that she could do a little something to lift her mood a bit.

Or maybe she could.

"Hey Rin." Gumi began. "You know, we haven't gone somewhere together-I mean, only the two of us-for a while. Um, maybe you want to…" Gumi trailed off. She had to admit it that she was feeling a bit nervous-like she was going to ask Rin out.

Rin chimed it almost immediately. "Oh, yes! Of course I want to spend some time with you, Gumi! We haven't had any 'together moment' for a while!"

Gumi smiled. She thought it was going to work-going together with Rin, having fun together so she would forget the 'loneliness' she was having.

"Well~ I have part-time job after school, so maybe… on the weekend?" Rin asked.

Rin having a part-time job wasn't something Gumi had already knew. "Oh, you have one? Where?"

"Ah, Rainbow Ice." Rin said while twirling her short blonde hair. "I _accidentally_ applied in when I was asking the owner something. Well, it's like I have anything to do after school."

"…Was it like that?"

"It was like that."

* * *

There was no need to say good morning to herself, so she just got up from the bed without saying anything. She faced the alarm clock that displayed 6.15 am-she couldn't help but being a morning person. It was Saturday, why should she get up early? Besides, she was going to meet Gumi at 11, she still had 5 hours for…

'Well, I don't really have anything to do today.' She thought, but she didn't try to go back to sleep. Instead, she went straight to the bathroom and took a bath. After she was finished-and feeling much refreshed-she walked out from her room.

She went to the kitchen to eat breakfast-no, of course she didn't cook the foods, she bought it at shop at the day before and put it into the microwave to make it warm-and clean the mess she had made in the previous night.

She got curious on how the soda will 'burst' out when it was shook before the can got opened. She had tried it before with Len, but it didn't work. Strangely, it didn't work _again_, so she had finally given up. She knew it was strange-where was the soda? Maybe the company had fooled her (and many other people) and put 'normal', non-carbonated drink.

'What am I thinking about…?' She asked herself as she picked up the scattered cans and threw it into the trash bin. The microwave beeped after that, so she came back and took the food out. She set it on the table and ate it silently.

'The weather's not so bad today. I wonder where Gumi will take me to.' She thought after she had finished her breakfast and washed the dishes. Then she sat on the couch while stretching her hands up. "Aaah~ Feels great~" She said. Then she blinked twice and stared at the TV.

'I have nothing else to do now.' She thought while doing practically nothing. 'Well, I might do something… Like watching the TV or listen to some music. It's getting too silent in here.'

Then that thought just struck her. "Ah, the piano."

* * *

She got lost in the music she was playing. She knew that she wasn't really good at piano, but she thought she just had to play it from the bottom of her heart. Sheets by sheets of music score turned into a rich, melodious song from the piano and her mouth.

She sang along with the piano. It made her forget that the time was still ticking, fast. When she suddenly got alarmed by the sunlight that seeped into the balcony-the room seemed to be much brighter-she gasped and ran down almost immediately, not even bothering to close the piano. She even accidentally tripped on a pile of paper and make the paper flew into the air, but instead of tidying it up, she made a mental note to tidy it later.

She looked at the clock again. 9.55. 'It's impossible to make it on time!' She thought. Still in a full speed, Rin went downstairs and rushed into her room to change her clothes. After she was done, she grabbed her bag and headed outside, saying, "I'm going!" to practically no one.

'I really didn't think I would be _that_ absorbed into the music—I played the piano for 4 hours and I didn't even notice it!' She thought to herself and looked at her phone to check the time. 'Already 10? Gumi is someone who's usually on time, it makes me feel bad that I have to make her wait. She's my best friend but still…'

She thought it would be better if she send a message to Gumi, saying that she was going to be late, so Rin quickly typed into her phone while still running.

"_I'm really sorry Gumi! I didn't check the time and was too absorbed into something—just forgive me that I'm coming a bit late! –Rin_"

Rin put the phone inside her pocket—so it would be easier for her to take it again, putting it inside the bag took more time—and continued to run. She didn't stop running until she saw an intersection where some people was waiting patiently under the traffic light while looking at the passing cars. Rin glared back at the red-light with a picture of a standing person that was glaring at her with its color. 'And I have to wait until it turns green?'

After she thought that, almost immediately, the light turned green and people start to walk. Rin hadn't reached that place yet, so she just smiled to herself. 'I don't have to wait, then. I'm just going to run to the other side of the road.'

She ran past the walking people and headed straight forward. But then she heard a loud sound of horn from her left.

No, cars weren't supposed to keep on speeding—the light was for the cars. But Rin could tell that there was something wrong with the speeding car, it just didn't stop, or even slow down a bit.

And she was in front of the car. She knew if she didn't continue to run, the car will surely hit her. But she couldn't do it—she was planted on her standing place, not running away to the side of the street. Fear had taken over her and made her unable to move.

In fact it were just some milliseconds, but for Rin, it felt longer than that, as if time was moving slower than usual, it was because things were running inside of her head. 'With this speed, if the car hits me, I'm surely will be dead—no, but I don't want to die yet… I…'

Indeed, there was something wrong with the car. The driver himself had that shocked expression when he found out that his car _couldn't stop_. The first thing that ran inside his mind was: warn the girl. "Hey girl! Move aside! I can't stop my car!"

Several people who were crossing the street turned their head to the man and his car. Feeling that their lives were threatened if they kept on walking, they scattered to different sides of the road, not even looking at the girl who was still standing in the middle of the road.

The man hit the horn even louder than before, feeling a bit desperate that the girl didn't even move. He knew his life was being threatened as well—even if the girl had safely crossed the street, the car he was riding would kept on moving and eventually hit another car—but the girl…

He didn't want to be a killer by hitting an innocent citizen.

It didn't work—the only movement the girl made was just her eyes that went wide. 'I've spent some years being a trouble seeker, is this trouble? Getting stuck in the middle of the street when a car is speeding towards you is a trouble? I still want to be with my friends, I still want to go to the school, I still want to do many things.'

'Besides, Len wouldn't be happy if he knows that I died. And Gumi is still waiting for me. Is… is this the fate? If it really is, then I—'

* * *

"_I'm really sorry Gumi! I didn't check the time and was too absorbed into something—just forgive me that I'm coming a bit late! –Rin_"

Gumi read the message again and again as she sipped her orange juice—she would rather drink a carrot one, but no one sold it, of course—in an outdoor café while waiting for Rin. She had been waiting there for half an hour, and she had received the message about 20 minutes ago, but still, there was no sign of Rin. 'Maybe there's something on her way, maybe I should went to the direction of her house, so I can meet her somewhere on the way.'

With that, Gumi left the empty glass and walked to the direction of Rin's house. 'Just hope she's not taking another route.' She thought. Then, after walking for a while, there was an intersection that separated the suburbs and the downtown. Strangely, people gathered there, like trying to see something in the middle of the road. 'Maybe there's an accident?'

Gumi couldn't see what had happened there because it was completely blocked by people, but she thought Rin was there, in the middle of the crowding mass and trying to see what had happened there. 'Typical Rin…'

A loud siren made people stepped aside, giving it some way. It turned out to be an ambulance. After a while, the ambulance went away, along with some people. But Gumi still couldn't see anything, though she got the idea that an accident must had happened from the ambulance she saw before.

She hadn't found Rin's whereabouts—not even her bow that usually stood out in the crowd—so she decided to ask a passerby who just got away from the very crowdy crowd about what had happened while still looking for Rin.

"Um, excuse me, what had happened here?" Gumi asked a random person who was a man in his thirties.

"A car hit a passerby who was crossing the street." The man said. "Well, the light was red, but it seems like there was something wrong with the car so it couldn't stop and the driver accidentally hit the poor girl. She's… really unlucky. I don't think she would survive after she got hit by a car in _that_ speed…"

'A girl?' Gumi thought, feeling a bit surprised. But it wasn't Rin, right? "Did you manage to get the look of the girl? How… how did she look like?" She asked, starting to feel afraid that it might be Rin.

"It's hard to make it out—she was soaked with blood from head to toe, but I think she had a blonde hair with somekind of… bow, on her head." The man answered as he tried to describe the picture inside of his head. "Why are you asking anyway? You looked too young to be a reporter."

There, for a moment, Gumi forgot how to breathe.

"N-nothing, I-I'm just curious of what had happened." She said quickly with her head lowered, trying to sound 'normal'. "T-then, thank you very much for the information you gave… But I still have something to ask… Where did the ambulance go…?"

"Oh, no worries—the ambulance went that way." He said while pointing at a certain place. Gumi started to walk away before he could finish his sentence, so he quickly added. "Please be careful on your way!"

She turned her head to the man and said. "You too, thank you for the concern." And with that way, the man could see that she was crying.

* * *

~~Note: Miz=Mizki. I'm just shortening her name. It sounds good, so why not?

I'm really really really sorry! I got too lazy to continue typing the story because it's holiday! It has been more than a month since my last update... Ha.

I even get more guilty that... I actually got decent number of review on the last chapter... And... For all who had reviewed, I appreciate all of the review, thank you very much for leaving some reviews.

Replies.

Shriekmon-san: Thank you very much for liking this story! Whoa, that's a pure accident... I was referring to Luka and Gakupo, but the last one is... who?

RPR-san: I... am sorry for making the story like that. But does it make you want to read more and more?

LazyBigCat-san: Um... Actually I feel sorry for Rin and Len, I'm not helping the fact that there are enough tragedies in their stories/songs...

STORM-san: This is the next chapter~

Again, thank you for the reviews. Now for the other readers... Thank you for all who is still reading or just read this story... Ah, as long as you read this story, thank you!

Until next time.


	45. Chapter 45: Love

~~6 reviews... I never get that many reviews before o_o Thank you very much for all the reviews!

LazyBigCat-san: What I have done is... killing Rin... I'm sorry I wasn't able to fulfill your wish to—*ahem* Just see the positive side, it's... it's not that bad! But still, forgive me for killing Rin~ *bows* *shot*

Guest: Hm, actually it wasn't that fast... Rin died a few months after Len went back to his world... I didn't put any 'time skip', but actually the time had skipped since the scene where Rin visited Len's grave... But Rin still joined him at the end so it really doesn't matter -_-

MonochromAddict-san: Thank you very much! I will keep up on it... um, this chapter is written while doing things (including writing a reply to... you *facepalms*), my mind was distracted so... So~ Please forgive me if it's not good enough.

Echolinux-san: That phone issue is painful, yes, yes. I'm glad that you love this story, thank you very much~

Lynn 'Ne'-chan: Eh? It's supposed to be like that? I really have no idea about putting genre, actually I've changed it several times but... Agh. You sure it's supposed to be 'romance'? Because I don't feel like I've written some romance, but... But... I'm confused T^T

Shiori-san: Eh? But this story hasn't ended yet... At least at the time when you (?) read this (I assume you're going read this note before the chapter itself), it hasn't. I'm not making a sad ending for this story, actually.

There's a bottom author note, just informing. Now let's move to the forty-fifth chapter.

Disclaimer: IA belongs to 1st PLACE.

* * *

Teto couldn't control her tears anymore. It kept on flowing, no matter how badly she wanted it to stop.

She was attending her best friend's funeral, after all. People cry in a funeral, so it should be okay for her to cry.

"Why did Rin-chan have to go this fast?" Teto said, her voice hoarse from crying too much. "I-I really didn't expect that to happen."

Gumi, who was comforting her since she started crying, gently patter her head. "No one had expected that. No one knew that she would die in a car accident."

"B-but, isn't that too sudden? Just the day before it happened, Rin-chan was still… still alive, still doing things normally." Teto said.

Gumi could only smile. What Teto had said is true, but if she continued to think about it, then she wouldn't be able to move on. "I know that, Teto-chan."

Teto sighed and finally lifted her head up. Then she smiled at Gumi. "Gumi-chan, sure you have a strong heart—you don't even break a tear."

"I've cried enough already." Gumi said, replying Teto's smile with a smile as well. It was true that she had cried endlessly when she found out that the girl who got into the accident was really Rin. But then, she thought that crying wouldn't really change anything. "Besides, I think Rin is happy right now, so I don't have to worry anymore."

* * *

Chapter 45

* * *

There was no other way to describe it but 'awkward'.

It was awkward, staring at someone you thought was your mother, but both (you and the mother) were acting like you didn't know each other.

And that was what Len was facing at that moment.

"Well, though the introduction has been done before, there's nothing wrong with re-introducing you to each other, isn't it…" Miku awkwardly said, feeling the weird tense in the air as well. "Kagamine-sama, this is Masuda Lily-san, and she's the one who's going to teach you about what you have to do in your position as a ruler of this world."

Feeling like escaping from the awkward situation between the ruler and the 'tutor', Miku decided to take care of things she needed to take care after she saw Len nodding in understandment. "Okay then, I… will leave now." She said in a hurry and left them inside the huge library.

After Miku shut the door close, Lily spoke. "Let's start it right away. Are you okay with that, Kagamine-sama?"

"I'm okay with that." Len said with a small voice, couldn't help but feeling strange being called like that.

Lily escorted him to a desk and explained him many, _many_ things there. During that time, while explaining, she kept on thinking about the ruler, Len. She witnessed it herself that he didn't remember any little thing before he got 'lost' on the earth.

She wouldn't care that much if the ruler was someone else, but this was Len she was thinking about.

Thinking it would be better if she didn't think about that before finished explaining, she shook that thought out and continued explaining. After she thought the explanation was enough, she picked out some books—_many_ books—from the bookshelves and put it on the desk. She patted the book and smiled at the ruler. "So these are some books that might help you if you still don't understand about some parts, but it would be better if you ask me right away because… Well, because I'm still here."

"So far I have nothing to ask, but maybe I will read the books later, thank you very much, Masuda-san." He said, thanking her.

"You're welcome, Kagamine-sama." She replied. "The lesson for this time is done. But before we leave, I actually want to ask something to you, Kagamine-sama."

'Stop calling me Kagamine-sama…' He thought inside of his head. He couldn't help but feeling strange being called like that, of course. He wanted to tell her to drop the honorfic and call him with his name, but how?

"How is the earth now?" She asked. "It has been a while since my last time seeing it."

He smiled a bit. Sure, everyone in the Afterworld was originally from the earth, but after they died, they arrive there. They must missed the planet—the world—where they were born really much.

"I have no idea about the 'now' and 'before' you mean in your opinion, Masuda-san. But it's still a wonderful place." He replied with a huge smile.

"Ah, I assume we were living in a different situation, then?" She asked again. "And what are you doing there? Or maybe you meet someone there?"

"Doing the normal life—going to the school, writing composition or reading in my free time, cooking almost every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, having a part-time job, spending the rest of the time with my friends… Many things…" He said, wondering why he could talk about his personal life so easily with someone he just met some days ago. "I would like to stay there for the rest of my life if I could."

Meanwhile, she was thinking as well. 'His life during that time was… _completely normal_. A life of a normal teenager…' She frowned a bit after making sure he wouldn't notice it. 'Maybe _he_ would be living that way as well if that accident didn't occur. But what I'm facing right now is this—being with him, but talking as if we didn't know each other. Maybe because… he doesn't know me, it means we really don't know each other.'

She responded to his short story. "Well, everyone would prefer being on the earth, but this is the best we can get—another chance to do things we never managed to do when we were still alive in another place which is much different than the earth. As long as I still have the chance, it's enough for me."

He stared at her for a moment, thinking about her words before replying. "Of course, Masuda-san. But now we still can't meet the person we know and we care about while we were alive…"

"And they can't meet us as well." She replied. "It's the same for them as well, they must be feeling sad as well from the loss."

"…Yes." He said, and once again, they were trapped in silence. Len was thinking of something, and Lily was wondering about something, both in silence.

'He… When he arrived in this place, he had no memory about the events before his arrival, and that means he didn't remember anything about 'living'.' Lily thought. 'And now he lost his memories again, and it makes him… don't remember anything at all. It really doesn't matter for me, though. He had already forgotten about me since the first time, after all…'

'…I wonder, did he meet her when he was on the earth…?' She thought again. 'But then, they probably wouldn't recognize each other even if they really did…'

She suddenly noticed that he was looking straight into her eyes, and it had successfully made her surprised. "What is it?" She asked.

"…Do you have something in your mind?" He asked calmly.

"If you ask, then I will say 'yes.'" She said.

'He reads my mind, doesn't he…?'

He lowered his head, looking down to the floor. After a while, he lifted it up again and he quickly looked away from her, trying to avoid eye contact.

"I met Rin." He said quickly.

Lily could hear what he was saying, but she wasn't sure he said 'Rin'. He said it fast, anyway. There was a huge chance that she misheard it. He just couldn't possibly said 'Rin', right?

Rin, the name of her daughter. Len's twin sister.

"Excuse me, what did you say? I didn't really catch it." She said.

"I met Rin, and Gumi too." He said and added, not even looking at her. "Rin is doing fine by herself until the last time I saw her—she's not completely alone, of course. There's her friend, and Gumi just went back to Japan some months ago. So… everything is fine."

"…Len?" She muttered unconsciously, dropping all the formalities she had always use to call him.

He finally looked back at her. Slightly smiling, he answered, "Yes, mom? What is it?"

* * *

"What… is this place?" The girl muttered as she stepped out from a small alley. Then she walked around in confusion, not knowing her whereabouts. Every building, people and their clothing was foreign for her eyes.

It was like she was teleported to a place that only existed in a fiction.

As she thought about that, she also felt that some eyes fell to her—to her _head_. It made her feel uncomfortable and started to walk faster, though she didn't actually know where she was heading.

She started trying to recall what had happened to her before she ended up in that place. She widened her eyes upon realization. 'Wait, I was going to meet Gumi and then I got hit by a car, and…'

"Um, excuse me." Someone called her and interrupted her thought. She turned around and saw a girl around her age. Her hair that reached her knee was blonde and her eyes were blue, just like hers but it was a bit different. "Are you… 'lost'?" She asked hesitantly.

"…Yes?" She answered it hesitantly as well. In truth, she was lost, yes. But why was that girl asking her?

She found that girl was examining her from top to bottom while muttering to herself. "You look like…"

"Who?" She asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable with her staring.

"Never mind!" The girl quickly said and looked away. "W-well, I'm Ia."

"Oh, I'm Rin." Rin replied. "Do you know what… this place is?"

"You're new here?" She asked. "I see why you looked so confused there. Then, if you're here, it means that you have died in the world we all lived before. This is the Afterworld."

'Died.' Rin thought. 'I died after that car hit me. It's strange that I actually feel sad about that.'

Ia noticed Rin's facial expression, so she spoke, "Um, you remember how you died, don't you." She paused. "It's a bit hard at first, I know that. But then, if you know someone who… maybe had died before you, then you probably can meet that person again."

Rin's face brightened upon realization. 'That's right. I can meet my mother again, as well my father. I can meet Len again.'

'I can meet Len again.'

'I can meet Len again!'

Meanwhile, Ia was still continuing her explanation, "Although it's not going to be easy, since this place is relatively… huge. But maybe if you—"

"Ia-san!" Rin suddenly called her. "Do you know where the ruler lives?" She asked with a suspicious huge smile that was enough to freak Ia out, though she tried to remain calm on the outside.

"Um, there." She pointed to a huge, castle-like building at what seemed to be the other end of that place. It was much taller than the other building such as shops and houses so it still stood out in the middle of the crowded world. "Did you need something there? Maybe… you want to ask it directly to the ruler?"

"Nah! I really need to meet him!" Rin exclaimed happily.

Ia gave her a strange look. 'She's new to this place, right? Then, from where did she know that this place has a ruler? And she did say that she needs to meet the ruler… Maybe I have to ask her to make sure…'

Too bad Ia was a bit slow—she would have noticed that Rin was already gone if she wasn't.

* * *

Rin kept on running to the said building with a huge smile on her face. She easily dodged every single person on her way and continued running. The building was still far away, but she knew she was getting closer in every step she took.

After a while, the building finally showed up clearly in front of her eyes. With a smile that got even bigger, she slowed her pace a bit. 'Finally!' She thought while observing the _huge_ building in front of her. From that distance, she could see that the building is indeed, big. She spent some minutes just standing there, amazed with what she saw there.

She realized that she still had to get into the building, so she tore her gaze off and started walking around to find an entrance. She quickly spotted one—because the door was actually a gate—but of course, guards were standing in front of it.

But it wasn't like anyone would barge into the 'castle', maybe just for safety.

Rin gulped. There was _no way_ she could get in easily. The trouble seeker would love it if she just went ahead like nothing was going to happen, then got caught by the guards and thrown off somewhere—of course, that was a trouble.

The problem was—Rin wasn't the trouble seeker anymore.

'Maybe if I just run, they would open the door!' She thought, highly doubting that it would actually work. But she had nothing else in her mind.

So she did it. She ran straight to the gate. The guards, seeing a yellow blur heading to the gate, opened it up gladly. Rin didn't expect it to work _that smoothly_ so she turned around while still running.

'Ah, I didn't think of it before—they probably mistook me for Len…' Rin thought in relief. Luck wasn't on her side, though. A small, innocent pebble was actually sitting in front of her, and successfully tripped her and made her fall.

"Ow!" She exclaimed from both surprise and pain. Apparently loud enough for the guards to hear—they turned their heads to her and quickly noticed that the person who ran inside and just exclaimed was certainly not the said ruler. Rin and the guards were looking at each other—Rin was smiling sheepishly while the guards were furious… Then quickly Rin got up to her feet and continued running inside while being chased.

"Trespasser!" One of them yelled.

'Okay… why did it turn out to be like this…? Great…' Rin thought sarcastically while running away. 'So this is the feeling of being chased, eh…? Not good at all…'

* * *

"Ah, shit… Why do I have to do this again…? I'm not some kind of delivery, gah… Don't they think that bringing papers from a side of a huge building to another freaking side of it isn't an easy job…?"

And while walking, Neru kept on muttering some rants and curses under her breath. And the situation she was in wasn't really helping as well… Carrying a pile of paper on each of her hand to the room of the ruler made her remember about what had happened few months ago…

She didn't want to remember it.

"At least give me back my job as a researcher!" She yelled at the end before throwing the door in front of her open. "Kagamine-sama! I'm here to deliver some papers!" She yelled on top of her lungs.

And what Neru saw inside was a startled person who was busy doing something on the desk, but thanks to her, he wasn't looking at his work anymore. She didn't know what to 'feel' when she saw him there—to be glad that he was there (not disappearing to some planet called earth), or annoyed (because he was… well, annoying for her). "Um, thanks Akita-san…" He said.

She walked to the desk and carelessly put the papers next to another pile of paper on the desk. "Nah, I would be happy if you give me back my job as a researcher. I'm sick of delivering papers to this room. What do they think I am?" She said, more to herself, before stepping out from the room without waiting for any response.

While trying to calm herself down by not thinking about anything, she walked back to her room without caring about anything—she heard some people who was passing by talking about a trespasser, but no, she didn't care. She didn't want to care.

However, a girl decided to bother her by asking a question. "Akita-san! Where is the ruler?!" She looked panicked for some reason, and she seemed to be in a hurry.

The thought of 'What does this girl want? Maybe she's new here?' passed her mind for a brief second, before she quickly erased it.

"The ruler? Just go this way." She answered while pointing back to where she came from.

"Oh, thank you Akita-san!" The girl said before dashing again to the said room.

She held the urge to shake her head because of the girl's behavior and continued walking. But then, she suddenly recognized the girl. 'Hm? Len's sister? What is she doing here? Gah, it's not even my business. Why the hell am I thinking about it? Just wasting my time…'

* * *

It was good that there were many turns and doors that lead to different places on her way. She couldn't hear the yelling of the angered guards anymore—they probably had lost her. She finally can sigh in relief, and with that she stopped running and started to walk normally.

She passed some people who seemed to be working there. None of them were feeling suspicious towards her—actually they didn't mind about her presence because they thought she was just someone who was walking around, not a trespasser.

"Hey, I heard… there's a trespasser." A girl started a conversation. Rin's immediately perked her head up and tried to listen to the conversation.

Another girl just waved her hand. "Ah, who would trespass to this place, anyway? No one would be brave enough to do it. Besides, I don't think there's anything special in here… Anyway, are you sure with that?"

"Not really, but if a trespasser is really here, I'm sure they would do something to that person."

"But seriously, does the ruler even care about this?" She said with a sigh. At this point, Rin started to slowly walk away from them and find a place to hide. She wasn't that safe, after all.

She opened the door at the end of the room and went out to the hallway, her walking pace was a bit faster than before. Rin was already thinking about going through this smoothly—she would hide in the first room she saw. Some people were in the hallway but luckily, again, no one seemed to pay attention to her, but _again_, they were talking about the trespasser.

'I don't know but maybe information spread out _really fast_ in this place.' Rin thought. 'But it's still good that they didn't mention about the characteristic of the trespasser… I mean, 'me'…'

"Nah, they said it's a 'she', and strangely, she looked a lot like Kagamine-sama." Someone said. "…And I start to think, actually it's not a trespasser, but only Kagamine-sama who is wearing… girls' clothing."

Not bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation, Rin immediately fled from the scene and walked away. As long as they didn't see her face, she was still safe.

And right after she thought of it, she saw someone face-to-face. At first her heart accelerates to the maximum level, but after recognizing the face, she immediately felt thankful because she was seeing Akita Neru. At least, she knew her even just a bit, and Neru wouldn't think of her as a trespasser.

"Akita-san!" She called at her. "Where is the ruler?!" Rin had tried to be calmer, but she failed at it—she still sounded panicked.

Luckily, Neru didn't seem to care about that and answered her question carelessly. "The ruler? Just go this way." She said, pointing to her back.

"Oh, thank you Akita-san!" Rin quickly said before dashing to the place where Neru pointed. Forget about hiding inside a random room, she would ran straight to his room if she could.

Then, there was a huge door in front of her. Could that probably the room Neru pointed at? There was a hesitation when she was going to open the door—maybe because Len was probably inside? Rin wasn't sure she was ready to meet him yet, but there was something more important than that. She was being supposed to be fine for her.

And by thinking about the guards and the probabilities that she would be punished or some kind of that, she was able to open the door—no, she was able to _throw_ open the door—without any more hesitation.

Then she saw someone who was sitting on the desk with piles of paper surrounding him, someone who was looking at her with wide eyes. _Him_.

"Rin…?" He asked.

"Len…" She said in return before jumping straight to him and glomped him. "Len!" She exclaimed happily.

With confusion in his voice, he asked his sister. "Rin, are you…?"

"That…" She trailed off, instantly knowing what he was going to ask. "An accident. I was going to meet Gumi when it happened… You can ask Gumi if you don't believe me and think that I killed myself."

After hearing her short explanation, he laughed and of course she protested. "W-what's funny, Len?!"

"I can't ask Gumi right now. Rin? Do you want her to die fast or… what?" He said.

"N-naah! That wasn't what I mean!" Rin said in return. Then she waited for some moment to speak again. "Ah, now that I'm here… Actually, back then, I had something to say but I didn't get the chance to…"

"What is it?" He asked, tilting his head and strangely it caused Rin to squeeze his arm she was holding from the beginning. "…Rin? What is it?"

"Nothing." Rin said while biting her lip as if holding something from coming out through her mouth. "I just keep on forgetting about telling you to stop doing that." She mumbled.

"What did you sa—"

Rin cut him off before he finished. "Let's forget about that, I haven't told you what I want to tell yet! Let me continue!"

"O-okay, Rin." Len said.

"Um, well…" Rin began, pausing to take a deep breath before continuing. "I've always wanted to tell you that I love you." She stopped and raised her eyebrow, not expecting it to come out that easily. Her nervousness still came, though, right after that. "M-maybe you will think it's strange because we're siblings, right? That's why I… I'm not sure you would accept it… B-but now we have died, right? It doesn't matter, right…? Do you… feel the same way?"

"It was supposed to be a matter." He said with a small voice. "But um, I think that way as well, we've died, so it doesn't really matter…"

"Eh." Rin smiled. "I think it's a yes, then. It's a yes, right?"

Len blushed at Rin's question. "W-well, actually ye—"

Then suddenly someone opened the door open, ruining the moment. "I heard there is a trespasser and they said that person went this way…" The person, which turned out to be a she trailed off.

Both of them turned their head to the door and saw a blonde woman standing there, her blue orbs were wide as she saw the twins there. "Rin?" She asked.

It took her a while, but later Rin realized who that person was. "Mom…?"

As Rin and Lily were having a family-hug moment, Len stayed there, smiling.

'_Hey._' The voice said. '_Are you happy with this?_'

'…I'm happy.' Len replied. 'I'm happy.'

'_Ah._' He grumbled. '_I've said it before, right? Why didn't you believe in me?_'

'…What are you talking about?'

'_Never mind, it really doesn't matter anymore now._'

* * *

"…And Masuda-san said something like that." She said. "It was like… he gave some of his memories to get back his other memories."

"Hm. Something's certainly behind that, don't you think so, Hatsune-san?" He replied.

"Yes, Kamui-san. But not only that, his disappearance was already strange, right? I think the loss is related to that as well." Miku said.

"The disappearance? Until now it hasn't been solved. I think it's the time for Akita-san to work as a 'proper researcher' again." Gakupo said, half joking. "But before that, do you know something else about the disappearance, Hatsune-san?"

Miku looked to the floor for a moment. "There's something I would like to confirm, because I'm really sure that was what had actually happened." Then she looked at Gakupo with serious eyes. "He… Kagamine-sama had planned that, I think it was him who wanted to go to the earth, not because of anything else. Something he did on his own because of a reason we haven't know yet."

'But at that time, just a day before he 'disappeared', I accidentally caught his eyes…' Miku thought. 'I never noticed it before—or maybe he hid it?'

'Those eyes looked… dead. The reason is hidden… behind those eyes.'

* * *

~~And that's the end. It looked like a cliffhanger instead of an ending... I know that. But really, the story ends here.

You're not convinced with my words. I've said it again, it's the end.

So~ After I re-read this story from the beginning, grammatical errors are everywhere~ I'm sorry for the inconvenience (?) and I will fix them later.

Then, I want to say thank you for all the support. I remember that time about a year ago... Nah, the point is I'm feeling happy for all the support, thank you very much for every single reviewer, for the ones who put this story in their favorite, and for them who follow this story! And especially, for all the readers! Thank you!

Until next time!


	46. Chapter 0: Truth

~~There's a reason why I hadn't changed the status into 'complete' in the previous chapter. Well, now it's completed but... Hey, I haven't updated for more than a month, so sorry...

No one likes waiting, so right to the story. This is technically something that happens before the story starts, hope you'll enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Tone Rion belongs to MoeJapan.

* * *

That time, the story didn't have a happy ending.

_"It's okay, everything will get better soon, right?"_

That time, I thought it was the end of my story.

_"No, I still don't want to give up. To be able to live again like this is good."_

But He gave me another chance.

_"Everyone believes my lie. Maybe I have to believe my own lie as well."_

And when I thought everything will turn out better…

_"If… Just if I can forget everything and start everything from the beginning…"_

It didn't. I couldn't help but think…

_"It's enough, let it stop… Stop it, stop it…"_

…Why did it turn out to be like this?

_"I just… I just want to die…"_

* * *

Chapter 0

* * *

It started out when suddenly I found myself dying—I recalled that there was a somekind of war, and I was just an innocent citizen who just got the kingdom he was living in in a battle with another kingdom. And I was sitting inside the library while reading some books when the building collapsed after a loud exploding sound.

I got trapped inside the collapsed library and no one came to… rescue me, so I died right there. You know, it felt really lonely, knowing that there was no one to save you.

Really, it doesn't matter how I died because later, I arrived at a world called 'Afterworld', a world where people live after their death. Even until now, I have no idea how the goverment-thing worked on that place, but then, I was choosed to be the ruler—someone who rule the whole world.

This was where the unluckly events started. When I thought the Afterworld is where people live peacefully, there were some conflicts between each others. No, no one died because basically, we can't die for the second time, we will just doing to disappear instead. But still… the world turned out to be a ruined world where no one wanted to live in. It looked more like a nightmare after we die.

And it looked like something that I, the ruler, caused. If I managed to find a way to settle them down, something like this wouldn't have to happen.

And it wouldn't have to end this way as well.

But He thought it wasn't my fault—it was the citizen's fault. The ruler didn't do anything wrong. Those words were supposed to defend me, but I think of it as a offense instead. Of course, He didn't agree to that and convinced me that it wasn't my fault at all.

I was still on my opinion—it was my fault, my responsibility. He finally gave up on that idea and chose to make an agreement with me. "If you really think it's really your fault, then I will give you a chance to 'fix' it."

The agreement was like this: He was going to restore the Afterworld and turn back the time so it would seem like nothing had happened. But then, he would also give me a 'new life' though it didn't really go like I would be resurrected. He would create a 'new' me instead—a person with the same personality and appearance just like me, but we would be having our own 'life'. He would be living his life, and me, on the other way, would be 'trapped' inside of him. The thing I could do was only watch him and communicate with him, though I would be able to see and hear things by my own, as if I have my own eyes and ears.

I accepted the offer and then He started to do everything he had planned immediately. The Afterworld was restored, and a new me was created. He would be the same as me—even his name would be the same—though there would be some adjustment so the same thing would not happen. He would live in a country called Japan, and of course, he was going to have a different family member.

The new couple who had just gotten married—now had become the Kagamine family—was destined to have one daughter from their marriage. Kagamine Rin, and that was all. But this was where He put him in as her twin brother.

Kagamine Len.

* * *

While I was 'watching' him, I also learned some things that I hadn't know before—along with him. It's like growing up with him, like being alive for one more time. Besides, it felt different—I was the only child in my family, so the way they raised me was different. And he had a twin sister as well, that's a lot different.

But I could say that the boy was pretty unlucky—he was only six when that incident occured. A truck passed in front of the house and hit him, and there, he died. What made it worse was his friend was standing there with her eyes wide while still trying to understand what had just happened.

But I'm here not to talk about his friend, my main focus is him, Kagamine Len, not his friend who named Nakajima Gumi.

Right, his live ended there. And again, I could find myself being at the Afterworld again. Sure, everything was restored—it looked _much better_ than the world I had left behind—and the 'life' had begun once more. It was livelier, far livelier than before. Of course I felt happy with this… But then, I encountered with a new problem.

After seeing the new, unfamiliar scenery, Len (I'm not talking about myself here) started to walk around carefully, as if stepping the wrong place would send him to death.

'Where?' He asked inside of his head, and I could hear it as well. But of course, I couldn't give him any reply—that would freak him out.

He continued to walk while trying not to encounter with anything—including people. But then, I had no idea where he was heading, I thought he was walking aimlessly. There was something that bugged me, though.

No one in that place bothered to notice him. Were they heartless or what? They were seeing a little boy walking by himself in a place full of grown-ups, and not even one of them asked something like 'are you lost?'! I had no idea why all of them seemed to be so… busy.

Seemed like he started to feel that way as well—ignored. So he stopped walking for a moment and stare down at the concrete, but then he got shoved away from the road because of many 'excuse me's from the walking people.

'I have no idea where I am heading, after all.' He thought and stepped back.

While he was doing that, I busied myself by looking around. People were talking about the ruler—from what I heard, they needed a new ruler. I wondered who the ruler was before this happened…

Then, I 'looked' back to the boy, who was now leaning his back on the wall behind him. 'I don't understand.' He thought, but what was that? What did he mean by that? 'Why am I here? Where is this place?'

He didn't understand about what had happened, or where he was. Or maybe he didn't know it as well that he had died? I pitied him, but then, what could I do?

* * *

He was still wandering around the town at that time when she came running towards him, as if she had found her lost child or something…

But it was true that he was her child and was indeed, lost. But no, the case was a bit different.

The woman herself was really looking for something, but who she was searching wasn't her child. What I had heard was enough for me to understand what was happening at that time. They hadn't found anyone who fit to be the new ruler. Somehow I had the feeling that she was searching for someone who could be the ruler.

So, it turned out that this Len would be the ruler as well. Was this something He had planned?

Let's not talk about that—back to the current situation. The woman's face changed when she saw him. Then slowly, she brought her hand to her mouth, slightly covering it. "Len…?" She asked in disbelief as she stepped forward. Somehow her face was happy and glad—of course, I could imagine her feeling. Reuniting with someone in this world must feel really… nice. Maybe because it didn't happen to me. I never met anyone who I had known in the Afterworld.

I'm getting off from the topic again, am I?

Len looked back to the woman, but I could feel that he wasn't having the same facial expression as the woman. After looking at the woman in confusion, he asked, "…Eh?"

The woman's smile dropped when she heard his short reply, but she put it up again as fast as she could. Now, an unreal face was on her face. "I-it's me, Lily, your mother." She said, stuttering from nervousness at the beginning. "But, you're really Len, right?" She asked, making sure that she wasn't mistaking someone for her son.

If that was the question, the answer would be 'yes', right?

"Len…" He said, as if trying out the word on his tongue. "Who's Len?"

It struck me just like a lightning. Did he lose his memory? If he really did… I wasn't supposed to be that surprised. He didn't say anything about how he died or something similar to that—that was what people thought about, right? Like, "I was doing 'this' before, then why suddenly everything changed and I end up in this place?"

I gritted my teeth and looked up to the sky. What was He actually planning? Was He making everything hard for me in purpose? At least He didn't have to bring that Len along…

…That was what I thought at that time. And that was the first time I realized that my choice from before wasn't a right one.

Maybe this is to prove that I am really the one at fault?

* * *

Years had passed since he became the ruler, and thankfully, the world was in peace under this. But seemed like the problem wasn't on the world, but on the ruler himself. It still bugged him that he couldn't remember anything from his previous life, and not only that, actually…

Why was everyone ignoring him? Sure, he was the ruler, everyone had to listen to him and obey his orders. But no one seemed to… care about what he was actually doing or asking.

"…Wait, Kagamine-sama. Some of these documents are still missing." A purple-haired girl with twintails said as she checked the said documents.

He tilted his head in confusion hearing that. "I have put the papers on your desk this morning, Tone-san."

"Hm, you have?" She asked while putting her index finger on her lips. Her eyebrows knitted at the same time. "I don't feel like you have."

Frowning, he stated it again that he had gave her the documents. "But I really have, Tone-san. You were sitting on your desk at that time as well. When I put those papers, you shortly said 'oh, thank you very much' without looking away from… whatever you were doing." He said, feeling like he had made a bad choice of words.

"O-oh, you have? I don't recall saying that, or maybe I did it without noticing?" She laughed nervously while fiddling with her hair. "Well then, thank you—but really, you should've asked someone to have it delivered to me. It's just uncool for a ruler to be walking from here to there just to deliver the papers."

He raised an eyebrow as she said 'uncool' before turning away while saying a quick, "I will… excuse myself, then. I'm going back to my room." He walked in a fast pace to the door without waiting for any reply, then opened the door open and walked out. When he thought there was no one else in sight, he leaned on the door and sighed with his eyes closed.

"Again…"

But there was a smile was on his face.

* * *

He should be working on his papers at that time, but somehow he couldn't focus on his job—he found himself staring at the blue-painted sky through the huge window on his room. He couldn't help but thought, '…I wonder, does anyone actually care about me…?'

In less than ten seconds, he looked away from the window while laughing silently to himself. 'What am I thinking about? Of course, at least someone really cares about me—'

His thought was stopped abruptly by another thought, or rather, a realization. A realization that he never felt loved by anyone. Not that kind of romantic love, but a love where people care about each other.

Not even that one, simple love.

With a sigh, he face-palmed. 'If it really is like that, then I… No, I still don't want to give up. To be able to live again like this is good. Why would I need something else?' And after that, he continued his work.

I continued watching his as he examined the paper in front of him, then he wrote something on the paper with a pen. Although his mind was now on the work, somehow I know there was something inside of his heart that he couldn't even describe it by himself.

Until that time, I still got confused often with the 'mechanism' of this 'me living inside of him' thing. My only connection with him was just I was able to hear what he was saying inside of his mind, I could do the rest by myself—more less. The things I heard or saw weren't always be heard or seen by him. I couldn't even feel the 'feeling' he was feeling—we just happened to be 'stacked' together.

That's why, when I feel hurt inside (no, not physically hurt—technically, I had no physical body), I always wondered, was it because I could feel his feeling as well, or maybe I got 'hurt' as well? The latter one still makes sense. We had the same personality, so I think if we were put under the same situation, then we would feel the same thing.

Maybe… maybe it was like that, so I decided to wait for something else to happen.

* * *

It was all lies.

"How are you feeling today, Kagamine-sama?" She wasn't asking it in a happy voice, but not in a serious voice as well.

He turned his head to the speaking maid and replied with a smile. "I'm fine."

She quickly returned his smile, "I'm glad hearing that, Kagamine-sama. It's just… I often see you spacing out when doing things." She paused. "Like that time when you hit the door when it's clearly there."

Ah… I remember that time, and I was sure he remembered it as well.

"Oh, that… You saw me at that time, didn't you…? Just pretend it never happened." He said. See? I said, he remembered it, and I could tell it as well that it was embarrassing for him. "But really, I'm okay."

"Hmm, I'm glad hearing that." She said, again with the smile. "But do I really have to remind you again? Just say if you're not feeling well, or say what you really want to say. The last time you got sick really made us worried—you could've said it earlier that you were sick so you didn't have to push yourself that hard. Understand?" She lectured.

"Of course I understand." He said.

She gave him a somekind of light-glare before asking again. "This isn't the first time I tell you this, and this isn't the first time you say 'I understand'. I know you really understand, but what now? You don't want to be honest?"

"I never said I don't want to be honest." He stated sternly. "Anyway, why would I tell a lie?"

Not having any idea what to say, the girl just sighed as she looked to a clipboard she was holding. "Now, here's today's schedule for you, Kagamine-sama. First, there are some papers that need to be given to Hatsune-san."

'Liar. When you said 'everyone was worried', it was a lie, right? Don't think I could be fooled easily like that.'

"Second, Kamui-san is going to hold a meeting around noon, and he wants you to participate as well." She continued.

'Everyone does it so they would be called 'loyal', just for that mere reason. It doesn't involve me at all.'

"Third, Masuda-san says that she wants to talk to you…" She trailed off.

'So, they will do anything for that. And of course, telling lies as well. But seriously, they think no one knows that they're lying? Well, I know that.'

"And she said she will be in the library." She continues.

'The main point is, I don't want to tell those liars the truth.' He thought mischievously. 'A lie will be answered by a lie.'

"…Are you even listening to me, Kagamine-sama?" She asked slowly after noticing that he hadn't say anything since she started telling him the schedule.

"I'm listening." He answered almost immediately. "The first is taking care of the papers, then. I can start now, right?" After he said that, he turned away while smiling.

…That fake smile again. Seeing that smile always made me want to sigh. He acted like he was happy and okay with all of that when actually, he didn't. No one noticed it, though. I thought maybe if he said the truth, somebody will at least, know about his real feelings.

It wouldn't have to go this way. But instead of doing that, he chose to believe his own lie. He was happy and that was it—though deep inside, that lie that 'he was happy' still hurt him.

Until now, I still haven't understood him.

* * *

I could sense that night was cold. No one wanted to freeze, so everyone was tucked under the warmth of blanket inside of their own rooms.

'Blankets… are warm, aren't they?' He thought as he clutched his own tighter. 'It's much more comfortable than anything else.'

He sighed as something passed in his mind. 'If… there was someone who can make me feel this warm, then that person is certainly better than just a mere blanket. Or maybe that's just my own thought because I don't have anyone.'

The room was dark, every single window and door was locked tight (and in case someone want to unlock it, magical barrier, that's it), and there was no voice at all.

'Lonely, isn't it?'

Tears began to flow from his eyes, pouring everything out from his tightened chest. 'Lonely, indeed. It's lonely.' He repeated inside of his mind. 'It's lonely. I wonder how people are able to have someone who really cares of them… What I don't have in them to be able to obtain that?'

'But first of all… Why is that?'

'Why it has to be me?'

More tears rolled down, it started wetting the white, soft pillow he was using. Then he whimpered—a desperate cry he didn't want to let out from his mouth, thinking that someone would hear it if he did. The lip he was biting on started to bleed.

'Stop it… It hurts. It hurts.' He said in his head while closing his eyes, thinking that maybe he would fall asleep by doing that. But instead of that, he couldn't stop crying.

Finding it was really a hard task to stop crying, he clawed the sheets with his fingernails. 'Why am I crying over an unimportant thing like this, anyway? Again, I already have enough good things here—being a ruler has its own advantage…'

'I should stop lying to myself.'

With that, he sighed, trying to make it 'smooth' because his breath was ragged from the sobbing. He managed to calm himself down a bit by that. Then once again, he tried to close his eyes and sleep.

'Sleeping, then waking up without remembering anything about this.' He thought. 'That sounds good, though it won't happen for sure.'

'I wished for too many things, how selfish I am…'

* * *

That's it. I had to somehow fix this problem inside of him. After hearing what he usually said to himself, I started to think that the core of the problem is me.

I was the one who started all of this, thanks for my stubbornness at that time. He didn't have to 'exist' if he ended up hurting like this—the reason of his existence was me. To make it simpler, let's just say it wouldn't happen if he didn't exist.

But then, I thought if he could 'treasure' the life he was having, then everything will be settled. I was trying not to be a pessimist, but seeing the current progress, I thought it wasn't going to get better soon.

As I was thinking about that, Len was again, releasing his sadness (anger) by slicing down unused papers using a cutter.

…Seriously, he was insane.

'I'm afraid that I will turn crazy if this continues.' He thought. 'But then, who cares about that? No one will care.'

'No one will care.'

'No one will care, right…?'

He stopped slicing and stood still on his spot, trying to hold the tears that were threatening to fall down.

That's why I said, it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. Maybe I really should help him or something—I started to feel bad seeing him like that. Maybe it was because he was practically 'me'? If he was someone else, would I feel the same way?

Really, I shouldn't be thinking about this right now—the matter was Len, and I _seriously_ had to help him. As I was thinking that, he had walked away from the papers but the cutter was still in his hand. He sat at the corner of his bed and then threw the cutter away.

"…Seriously, stop it." He muttered to himself before collapsing to the bed with his eyes closed. Sighing, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at particularly nothing. 'I start to think; maybe it's better if I'm not alive… Right now, I'm technically not alive, but…'

Just… what?! Don't you want to reconsider it? Anything but death—once is still not enough?

'_…Hey._' I called. Hm, it was weird, I hadn't 'talked' for a long time. '_Can you hear me?_'

As if getting startled—or maybe he was getting startled—he widened his eyes, but then he shut his eyes close quickly. '…I'm not getting crazy, am I?'

Of course he would think that way… Why didn't I think about that before…?

'_You're not._' I said, trying to sound calm (which was luckily, a success).

'Then, what are you? Am I 'talking' to myself?' He asked.

'_You mean your conscience? No, I'm not._' I answered. '_I just happen to live inside of you._'

He closed his eyes again. 'For how long? How long have you been here?'

'_Since you were born._' I answered truthfully.

'I see.' He said. 'Then, it's nice to meet you.'

'_…You're not going to say anything else? Once again, I live in you._' I said.

'I felt someone's presence—someone who will treat me indifferently. But if you really live in me, why you just show yourself now?' He asked.

Well, I couldn't just 'show' up and say something like, "Yo Len, what's up?" He would really, really _freaked_ out. But then, he said that I was just someone who will treat him indifferently—what he meant by that is ignoring and unappreciating him?

I didn't know what side I was on—the ones who care about him or the ones who pretty much think about him as a ruler _and that's it_. I didn't want him to think that I'm the same, because in fact, I'm not. But I was just the same couldn't be denied as well. If I saw the things that had happened, then I should've shown up earlier. I wouldn't blame him if he thought like that.

Apparently, he noticed that I had become silent. He just smiled and spoke to me, 'It's okay, I understand that you don't want to scare me… I know that you're waiting for a perfect moment to tell me that you exist… Isn't it like that?'

I would raise my eyebrow if I could—something was definitely strange there. I didn't think he would believe me that easily. It was just 'I told him this and he just agreed with that without asking anything else', wasn't that…

I got it. He thought I was just lying—or maybe he would even think that the voice he had heard before (and I mean, my voice) was just a part of him that… says things. But then, he acted as if he believed in me when he actually he didn't.

He lied to me.

Then, he shifted on his bed, finding a more comfortable place to lie on. 'I have no problem with that. Again, it's nice to meet you.'

He was truly…

'And good night.'

…A liar.

* * *

The marketplace was a bit crowded, compared to usual since it was weekend. Everyone was really busy with their own activities—the merchants offered their items to sell, and housewifes (were they really housewifes?) bought things for their daily needs. Not only that, the ruler of the Afterworld was walking down the marketplace street as well.

'_And you decided to take a break from your job?_' I asked. '_Your job isn't supposed to have an ending._'

Len sighed in annoyance. What, was I that annoying? Sure, I did talk a lot but I don't think I did anything wrong. I don't see anything wrong with _talking_.

'…Ah, can't I? A ruler needs a break as well—they're just the same as normal people.' He answered.

'_Technically not._' I denied. '_A ruler is chosen to be a ruler because their magic power is stronger than anyone else. Let's say, the strongest in this world._'

'And why is that?' He asked.

'_I don't know, random?_' I asked back.

He stayed silent as he was giving a hard gaze to a shop that was selling flowers. I… had no idea why he had to glare at the flower shop.

'…You know a lot of thing about this world, don't you.' He said monotonously. 'Perhaps you've been in this world before, right?'

'_That's right._' I didn't bother to make any excuses, there was nothing to hide, after all.

'You have always seen my every single movement in my life.'

'_That's also right._'

'You know the things I have been hiding from everyone. _All of them_.'

'_Unluckily, yes._'

He stopped talking all so sudden. Maybe he didn't know what to say, knowing that I know everything.

'_There's something I don't know, though._' I said. '_Your feeling. I can only hear your thoughts, but I don't know about how you feel—it might be guessed from your thoughts, but well, you lie a lot, don't you? Even to yourself._'

He lowered his head a bit and narrowed his eyes, as if trying to glare at me. Then he continued walking to somewhere I didn't know. Really, I had no idea.

He stopped walking as he saw a fruit shop. He stared at the yellow, tasty looking banana that was being sold.

'_That looks tasty, doesn't it…? You wanna buy it?_' I asked.

'…I'll reconsider it.' He hesitantly said.

'_And why is that? Aren't you hungry?_' I asked again while silently, starting to think that I really did talk too much.

'I don't bring that much money.' He stated while staring forward blankly, though actually he was staring straight at an antique shop (I didn't know that kind of shop existed there). He didn't seem to notice it.

…But the shop owner (I mean someone who seemed to be the shop owner) noticed that he was staring at his shop. He stepped forward and asked hesitantly. "Yes? How can I help you?"

He continued to stare at the shop blankly, as if he didn't hear the call—or maybe he really didn't.

The shopkeeper, who I could tell was a pink haired man, got confused that he got no response from the boy. "…Hello? Er, the blonde boy there?"

He suddenly realized that someone was calling him. "Are you talking to me?"

"Of course, no one else's going to this part of the marketplace, it has always been like this." He said. "Well, I shouldn't say that, actually. I just started opening this shop recently."

"Is that so?" Len asked with a smile on his face—again, a rather forced one. "Maybe people just haven't known it yet that there's a shop here?"

"Well, it could be that, but maybe this place has already… set up to be like this?" He said in a wondering tone. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Not that much young people goes to this place… I think. Haha, I sound like a grandpa already. In truth, I have been in this world only for ten years or around that…" The man laughed at the end.

"Ten years?" He asked.

"Yes, what about you?" The man asked back.

"Around eight years."

"Eight years, hm? That's a relatively young age to die. I guess you're around fifteen…"

"Fourteen, actually." Len corrected. "But you're not that old as well when you died, then."

He laughed. "You're right, you're right—compared to my grandpa who was still alive when I died. I haven't even have a child—not even get married! What is this?!" He flailed as he said the last part.

Len still had that smile on his face, but seeing the man just made him thought, 'He's exaggerating.'

"Anyway, eight years ago," Suddenly he turned his head to the boy. "Means it was the time when the new ruler was chosen."

"What happened to the previous one, then?" Len asked. I guess he was really wondering about that.

The man laughed. "So you're concerned about that one. Well, since we're not going to be in this world forever, there's this time when we finally will 'disappear' completely—no one actually knows about that, but that's what people say. To put it, the previous ruler had gone away from this world."

"That always happens?" Len asked again.

"From the old people's saying, yes. Everyone will 'disappear' when they reach a certain age—but it's considered to be old. No exception for the ruler, they'll also disappear." He explained. "That's why we need a new ruler. Let's say… the current ruler was chosen when he was still in a young age. But until now I still have no idea what his name is and how he looks like."

They fell into a silence almost immediately.

'…Does it suppose to be hurt? No, not at all. I am supposed to be okay—it just he doesn't know who the ruler is. It has nothing to do with me.' He thought. 'But knowing that someone doesn't even want to know who you are feels…'

"Strange, huh. When I arrived at this world, I knew the ruler almost instantly, but this one is—"

"Now, what do we have here?" A deep voice cut the man's words. Both of then turned their head to another man with long purple hair tied in a ponytail with a matching eyes.

It belonges to no one other than Kamui Gakupo.

"Oh, Kamui-san!" The man greeted Gakupo while bowing a bit at the taller man. "Good morning!"

"Good morning." Gakupo greeted back at him. "The weather is pretty nice today, isn't it."

"Sure it is. How are you, Kamui-san?"

The conversation continued, while Len was still standing there, not looking at the talking men, but somewhere else. He was trying not to hear what they were talking about. After all, they talked as if he wasn't there—as if it was just the two of them. No, not in the romantic, disgusting way.

But really, it went like that, as if he wasn't there. Completely invisible.

As if he didn't exist.

Thinking that no one would notice it, he turned his heels and walked away from that place silently.

While he was walking, I kept on looking at him. His head was lowered a bit, making his eyes covered by his bangs. And during the walk, he didn't say anything—not even thinking of something. His mind was blank, but I didn't know what he was actually feeling. But his desperate face just made me want to know what was with him.

'_Len—_'

'Don't talk to me.' He quickly cut me. 'I'm okay.'

_I'm okay_.

He lied. He lied and he knew that I notice that. He lied and he knew no one would buy that lie.

'I'm okay.' He repeated, more to himself. 'I'm okay.'

'I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay.' He repeated again. 'It's… just a lie. Everything's just a lie.'

He clenched his fists, but still walking forward. The speed was a bit fastened, though. 'A lie, a lie, a lie.'

He walked through the crowd, pushing peoples and dashing forward. Somehow he had to do it because of that urge to let his tears fall. There was no way he would _cry_ in front of anyone else.

He rubbed his eyes. 'Stop it…' He said inside of his head. 'It's enough, let it stop… Stop it, stop it…'

* * *

Even though this world is a completely different place if compared to the world where humans live—the planet earth—it doesn't mean this world isn't connected to the earth.

It should be obvious that it's somehow connected, though. People wouldn't be able to get to this place if it isn't. It's not what I'm talking about, though.

There were some doors at the corner of the Afterworld—each connected to different worlds. Of course, one of them was connected to the earth. Even though the door existed, people were prohibited to enter the door—not even opening the door without getting in—though there was an exception, if going to the earth is really needed, people can pass.

The reason was safety, said the book. "Because many cases had been caused because of going to another world, now the doors are blocked for safety."

…I know what it was talking about. When I was the ruler, people used the door to go to the earth—to keep in touch with the 'living humans'. But it was a reckless act. Some of them who didn't acknowledge that being on the earth too long shortens their lifespan. People disappeared after going to the earth.

Maybe that was the cause why it was blocked right at that time. They didn't want the same thing to happen. Something was strange, though.

'They didn't mention anything about this one.' Len said to me as he flipped the page over. 'No date, no time, nothing. As if it's just a mere fiction, made-up story.'

I started to think that he doubted things _too much_. '_Well, we never know what's actually behind of that story._'

'Say whatever you want.' He replied and closed the book as he stood up to put it back to the shelf. 'It gives me idea, though.'

There was no need for me to ask what the idea was. He wanted to go to the earth through the door. '_You can't._'

'I know you'll say that. But I won't change my mind.' He said.

If I could, I would look straight into his eyes and gave him a dead-serious look. '_Why do you want to die that badly?_'

'What do you want to do to the people you really hate? Of course, killing them.' He said easily. 'Hating too much people makes me hate myself as well. Hating myself for hating them.'

I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

'I… don't know what else to do.' He looked down and smiled. 'I can't do anything to change it, so why do I have to continue on living?'

He took a deep breath and released a shaky breath afterwards. "I just… I just want to die…" Silently, he whispered to himself.

* * *

I will take the responsibility of all of this. Someone who didn't do anything wrong suffered because of me.

That someone is a person who wasn't supposed to exist if I didn't make that choice at that time. If he didn't exist, then he didn't need to suffer.

If disappearing was what he really wanted… then I won't hold him anymore—I will go with him.

Even if that means I have to lose my existence as well.

There was a plan, but I didn't know whether he—both of us—will end up disappearing for real or not, it's like a bet.

Once the door that connected to the earth is opened, an alert will be sent to every single person in the Afterworld, there was no exception. But then, I said that getting away by 'tip-toeing' is better, so that was what we were going to do.

We were going to open the door without being noticed.

The 'alert' was enabled by a magic, so it supposed to be breakable. I knew how to break it, but telling him the 'way' to break it is going to waste many times—let's say it's a complicated magic spell—so I was the one who will break the magic using my magic. But as you can see, I was 'trapped' inside of him, so I need to take something from him to 'make a hole'.

'You need to take something from me?' He asked. 'Take anything—even my life is not an exception.'

'_I am not going to take your life. What's the main purpose of all of this if I end up taking up your life?_' I said, trying to sound as if I was joking. '_I'll take something else._'

Then, this is where it turned out to be like a bet. If his plan went on, then he will disappear, _so will I_. But if it was my plan that worked on at the end, then he won't disappear, he'll continue on living.

Simply, I'm betting on what will happen on the earth. People didn't die immediately when they got there—what makes them disappear is being there too long. No one knows what will happen before the time limit is reached.

His memory. I'm just going to take his memory. His memory alone is going to be enough for me to be able to do the magic and make the possibility become true.

'So, what are you going to take from me? Why haven't you take it yet?' He asked.

'_Your memory. I'm going to take your memory._' I said straight-forwardly. '_…But I will let you remember one thing. Your name._'

'…My name?' He questioned. 'Until now, I still haven't remembered what my real name is—you'll make me remember about that?'

'_Yeah, sure?_' I asked back.

'…Thanks.' He slowly said, slightly smiling to himself. 'Then, are you Len?'

'_What do you mean by that?_' I asked almost immediately.

'Your name—is it Len?' He repeated.

…I hadn't heard anyone said my name for a while—no, for a long time. Everytime I heard that name, it wasn't mine.

It was his.

But then, I felt like smirking. '_Well, perfect guess there. Yes indeed, my name's Len._' I said. '_Why are you asking?_'

'I knew it.' He said, his face showing satisfaction. Then he took a step forward and continued it by walking forward. 'Let's go now.' His hand reached the knob, and ready to push the door open.

'_Hey hey, you haven't answered my question._' I said in annoyance, though actually I was preparing for what awaited ahead.

He laughed at my question. 'I was just curious, but it doesn't matter after all. I will forget all of this.'

'_…Sorry for being annoying, but you're sure about this? You're not going to change your mind and go back?_' I asked for the… The main point is it wasn't the first time I asked that.

'No. I will… regret nothing.'

At that time, he wasn't lying.

* * *

~~If anyone's wondering, it's the voice's point of view... Now you know his name... Okay. Here's review replies:

Lynn 'Ne'-chan: Eh, I think I'm supposed to write something about them... Now they seem to be sad and lonely without Rin. And heheh, thanks!

OrangeTsundere-san: Right, the end. Sequel? Um, I don't think so. Rin and Len had already lived happily every after, so... I think it's the end. And thanks!

LazyBigCat-san: Uooo, thanks! This is an update, yay! Takes a while, doesn't it? Sorry...

RPR-san: Thanks! But... you're not satisfied with the end, aren't you? I'm so sorry... *bows* and peace!

Kattochi-san: I'm not into twincest as well, but somehow I make this story... with twincest in it. I don't understand that myself, but... Yay, thanks!

For **all** the reviewers, from the first chapter until now, thank you, thank you, **thank you** very much! Getting reviews feels really nice! And for the other support as well—you know it, favorites and alerts, thank you as well! And especially, the readers... Thank you very much for reading this story! I hope you enjoy it until the end... *starts to doubt it* *trails off*

I don't know why, I feel really happy that I managed to complete this fanfic... Though it was published in February 2011, actually it took 2 years for me to complete this! I'm really happy that it doesn't get abandoned~ *feels proud*

Well, maybe that's for now. Once again, thank you! Until next time!


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